The mother of a teenager killed in a crash said she has lost “one of the only things” left of him after online memorials were removed.
Scott Taylor and Aiden Thomson were 17 when they were killed in a crash on West Tullos Road in Aberdeen in 2012.
In the years since the tragedy, Scott’s mother Karen and the rest of his family have taken comfort in visiting his Facebook page, which was turned into a memorial account and featured many of the messages and photos he had uploaded.
In addition to her son’s own account page, the Taylor family also remembered the young man through the Sleep Tight Scott Taylor page, which was set up by his friends.
But for the past year, Scott’s parents have been battling with the social media giant to have the two memorials reinstated after they suddenly went disappeared.
Mrs Taylor said: “Normally when I’m posting things on Facebook, I would like to tag Scott in my updates, but when I tried to put him in an update on my birthday last year, it wouldn’t let me.
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“My husband Bob reported it, and we’ve tried and tried but nothing has happened since. They’ve told us they can’t find it, or access it, so we’ve just about given up.
“We’ve lost access to a lot of photographs and memories of Scott, and a lot of nice tributes that his friends posted onto the pages too after he passed away.
“It’s upsetting, because even though he’s passed, a lot of his memories were kept alive on those pages.
“Even though he’s been passed for six years, he’s still with us, he’s still part of the family – but this was one of the only things we had left of him.”
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A spokesman for Facebook said: “When people come to Facebook after suffering a loss, we want them to feel comfort, not pain and we are sorry for the difficulties Scott’s family have experienced.
“We memorialise accounts to help grieving families who want to honour lost loved ones while preserving the security, privacy and legacy of the person who has passed away.
“We are currently looking into what has happened to Scott’s account, and will keep his family informed.”
A spokesman for Facebook said: “When people come to Facebook after suffering a loss, we want them to feel comfort, not pain and we are sorry for the difficulties Scott’s family have experienced.
“We memorialise accounts to help grieving families who want to honour lost loved ones while preserving the security, privacy and legacy of the person who has passed away.
“We are currently looking into what has happened to Scott’s account and will keep his family informed.”
