NAIROBI (AP) ― United Nations investigators hoped they would get some help from Facebook when they asked to see information on suspected pirates operating in Somalia.

But Facebook refused.

A report by the U.N. Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea this month pointed out that while many private companies helped in the group’s investigative work on matters such as piracy, al-Qaida-linked militants and government corruption, Facebook provided no such assistance.

“Despite repeated official correspondence addressed to Facebook Inc., it has never responded to Monitoring Group requests to discuss information on Facebook accounts belonging to individuals involved in hijackings and hostage-taking,” the report said.

Facebook said in a statement Tuesday that the U.N. group had no legal authority to demand data from the company. “We therefore declined their request and referred them to law enforcement authorities,” the company said in an emailed statement.

Facebook’s refusal to share information with U.N. investigators comes as reverberations continue from the disclosure by Edward Snowden, a former contractor for the National Security Agency, that the NSA has cooperated with companies as Yahoo, Google and Facebook to access emails, video chats and pictures. U.S. officials have said the program is narrowly focused on foreign targets, and technology companies say they turn over information only if required by court order.

Facebook nears $38 IPO price for first time

Facebook’s stock came within pennies of its $38 IPO price for the first time since its rocky initial public offering more than a year ago.

Shares of Facebook Inc. rose $2.18, or 6.2 percent, to close at $37.61 on Tuesday. The stock hit $37.96 in afternoon trading.

The world’s biggest online social network has been on a roll since it reported stronger-than-expected earnings on July 24. Investors are especially upbeat about its fast-growing mobile advertising revenue.