A 14-year-old girl from Northern Ireland is suing Facebook after a naked photo was published on a “shame” page and repeatedly reposted.
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The social media giant’s attempt to halt legal action was rejected by a judge at Belfast High Court yesterday.
The teen, who can not be named due to her age, is seeking damages for misuse of private information, negligence, and breach of the Data Protection Act, after a naked photo was posted on a “shame page” several times between November 2014 and January 2016.
In what is believed to be the first case of its kind in the world, the child is suing Facebook and the man suspected of posting her photo.
Her photo was said to have been posted several times… The court was told that Facebook should have treated it as a “red-line issue”. The girl’s lawyers said Facebook should have prevented republication of the photo by using a process to identify and track the image.
The case is set to go to trial.
Facebook has claimed that it took the photo down as soon as it was notified about it.
They relied on a European directive, claiming it provides protection from having to monitor a vast amount of online material for what is posted on one page.
It is not the first time Facebook has been sued for its role in hosting sexual images posted for the objective of revenge.
Facebook has had a hard time in policing content on its platform recently. The company later reinstated the post after succumbing to public pressure.
Lawyers for the girl have argued that Facebook should have blocked a “shame page” that it was posted on.
The Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg posted the same image, which was also removed by Facebook.
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Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
