The question of civil liberty and privacy has ignited the public sphere once again with the controversy surrounding the now debunked Raoul Moat tribute page.

Prime Minister David Cameron and Facebook appeared to be at logger-heads, with Facebook refusing to bow to political pressure and the PM making it quite clear to everyone he disapproved of the page, which had more than 37,000 members before its demise.

Mr Cameron said he could not understand support for Moat, who killed one person and injured two in a shooting spree.

Responding to Tory MP Chris Heaton-Harris, who said the Prime Minister should contact Facebook and ask them to remove the page, Mr Cameron agreed: “I cannot understand any wave, however small, of public sympathy for this man. There should be sympathy for his victims and the havoc he wreaked in that community.”

But Facebook said the page would not be removed, citing the page to be an accurate reflection of current times.

When the tribute page was unable to be found, a spokesperson stated it was not removed by the social network company.

“Facebook did not remove the ‘RIP Raoul Moat, You Legend’ page. Facebook will remove content that violates our terms when reported to us.”

The only ways a Facebook page can be removed is either by Facebook or the creator of the page.

However disgusting the comments on the Moat tribute page are, they are a debate of current affairs and a great portion of it is happening online, where Downing Street has been kept at bay.

So who is the protector and advocator of the liberty of the ordinary British citizen? The Facebook zeitgeist, a multi-billion dollar company, or PM Cameron, the First Lord of the Treasury, charged with protecting the welfare of the British people?

A Facebook spokeswoman said: “We believe the group is a reflection of what people are debating in pubs and elsewhere. When you have 26 million people on Facebook [UK figures] you are going to have many different opinions.”

The Guardian reported today that Number 10 believe “it’s rather good to not to be seen too close to Facebook, so they need to be seen as critical of the site from time to time as well as playing the down with the kids/afternoon tea with Zuck line when it suits.”

The newspaper claims another Cameron PR effort has been “meticulously orchestrated”.

Mending “Broken Britain,” as Mr Cameron has claimed, with “no sympathy” is not the way to fix. And Cameron will fail if he cannot understand the pub-goer or ordinary citizen. But his comments on the Raoul Moat drama imply he does not want to.

Dear citizen, five more years of Tory rule. You have a voice, use it.