WA Police will not shut comments on their Facebook pages, or increase moderation of them, despite many racist, and some potentially defamatory, responses to posts.

Recent posts on the Mid West - Gascoyne District - WA Police Force Facebook page seeking information about people in connection to offences, or alleged offences, have attracted comments naming people (in posts featuring people yet to be identified, potentially defaming innocent people), and also replies making disparaging remarks about Aboriginal people.

On one post featuring an Indigenous woman, a person in the replies provides a name and the street on which the named person lives – potentially endangering the woman.

On the same post, comments include "Few flies have lost their way in that nasal cavity" and "the special people". On another "surprise surprise" in response to an image of two Indigenous girls. On another, featuring an Indigenous woman, comments include "cockroach" and "the entitlement ones".

National Indigenous Times asked WA Police why, given members of the public who wish to provide information in good faith can contact WA Police directly via a private message or by phone, it is necessary for comments to remain open on such posts.

This publication also asked if WA Police would consider a statewide policy of switching comments off on posts such as these, in order to avoid false identification in a public forum, and also to avoid racist comments in those instances where it is an Indigenous person, or person who looks Indigenous, is in the image.

A spokesperson for WA Police told National Indigenous Times the Force "utilises a combination of auto-filters and manual screening to remove inappropriate commentary, and social media users can and should report inappropriate posts directly to the operators of the platforms".

"The platforms encourage engagement among users, and this means that switching comments off negatively effects the reach of posts in the community. While WA Police Force does, on occasion, switch comments off, this is not and won't become standard practice," they said.

The spokesperson said WA Police sees social media as "a powerful tool to communicate and engage directly with members of the community on matters of significance, such as public warnings and appeals for information to solve crimes".

"WA Police Force does not encourage members of the public to provide information via social media and instead encourages members of the public to use well-established communication channels – 000 if life is in danger, 131 444 if police attendance is required, and Crime Stoppers via its website or by calling 1800 333 000 to provide information regarding a crime," they said.