The family of British backpacker Amelia Bambridge, found dead on Thursday, have urged social media users not to share graphic pictures of her body.
The 21-year-old from Worthing, West Sussex, was found drowned at sea, 30 miles away from the Cambodia island of Koh Rong little more than a week after she vanished during a beach party.
It is believed the disturbing pictures were posted by locals and began to circulate in the hours after Bambridge’s body was found, The Mirror reported.
The photos then picked up by a social media user from the US, who posted close-up version of the images which showed Bambridge’s distinctive Highland cow tattoo.
Her distraught family have since called for the pictures to be removed, with Bambridge’s brother Harry posting on social media to urge followers to report the content.
He said: “Get this shared and get this f**cking insensitive women to stop posting pictures of my dead sister.”
Facebook removed one of the most distressing pictures from the site, which the Sunday Mirror reported had only been done after the publication had raised the issue.
A spokesperson for Facebook stressed it had “clear rules against posting graphic content” following the outcry over the pictures. The social media giant owns Instagram, where pictures had also been shared.
The Facebook spokesperson added: “We’re saddened by the news about Amelia Bambridge and our thoughts go out to her family and friends.
“We have clear rules against posting graphic content, when we are made aware of this content we remove it.
“People often use Facebook and Instagram to share stories in the news and this can result in content appearing that some may find upsetting.”
Although action was taken with regards to one picture, other images remain online.
In Facebook’s community standards for violence and graphic content, the platform said it bans content which includes images of dying, wounded or dead people who are dismembered, burned or the victims of cannibalism.
The policy said: “We remove content that glorifies violence or celebrates the suffering or humiliation of others because it may create an environment that discourages participation.
“We allow graphic content (with some limitations) to help people raise awareness about issues.”
It is understood Facebook will remove photographs of dead people if asked by a family member or authorised person.