Hannah Smith
Hannah Smith

Under-fire social network Ask.Fm has called in the lawyers to audit its website following the death of teenager Hannah Smith.

Ask.fm is understood to be ready to hand over the location data of users to help the authorities trace web bullies who hounded the 14 year-old teenager.

The website is under pressure following the teenager's death, after she was relentlessly tormented by web trolls on the site. She was found hanged in the bedroom of her home in Lutterworth, Leicestershire, in July.

Outcry greeted Hannah's death and prime minister David Cameron called on web users to boycott problem sites.

Now lawyers at the Mishcon de Reya chambers are combing through Ask.fm's metadata in response to the outcry.

Anger has mounted after Smith became the fourth person in the UK and Ireland whose death was linked to Ask.fm.

Advertisers have been deserting the Russian-run website, prompting co-founders Mark and Ilja Terebin to call in the lawyers.

Boots, Specsavers and eBay are among the major firms to withdraw their adverts.

A statement by Ask.fm said: "We are committed to providing a safe environment for our users and are constantly working to improve our site and its safety features.

"We recognise the importance of acting quickly and decisively at this time to ensure our users and their parents do not lose confidence in our social network.

"A team of lawyers and media specialists are undertaking a detailed examination and investigation of the various procedures and policies we have in place.

"They will report back to us with their findings and comprehensive recommendations in the next seven days.

"We are confident that taking this action is in the best interests of our users and of social networkers as a whole.

"We are committed to safeguarding against bullying and harassment in all forms and would welcome the opportunity to collaborate with our colleagues across the industry to do this."