A 14-year-old girl in Northern Ireland will be allowed to sue Facebook over a naked picture of her that was posted on a “shame page”, after a court struck down the company’s attempt to block the lawsuit. The lawsuit believed to be the first of its kind will now continue as a full trial at a later date, reports the BBC.
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The girl’s lawyers allege that the photo was obtained through blackmail and then repeatedly posted online, between November 2014 and January this year. A lawyer representing the girl, who can not be identified due to her age, compared the act to a method of child abuse.
Lawyers representing the revenge porn victim are suing for damages from violating the Data Protection Act, negligence, and private information misuse.
The girl’s barrister, Edward Fitzgerald QC, told an earlier hearing at the high court that her picture was put on a “shame” page and blocking its re-publication should have been a “red line” issue for Facebook.
Her lawyers argued that Facebook could use a “fingerprinting” technology to prevent the photo being re-uploaded.
Facebook’s lawyers relied on a European directive that they claimed provides protection from having to monitor a vast amount of online material for what is posted on one page.
The image of the naked 12-year-old girl fleeing in terror from a napalm bombing showing the horrors of the Vietnam War was re-uploaded in protest of Facebook’s policies and promptly deleted every time, drawing more criticism until the website reversed its stance on the picture.
It is not the first time Facebook has been sued for its role in hosting sexual images posted for the goal of revenge.
Facebook is increasingly becoming embroiled in arguments about what content it does and does not allow on its platform.
The Prime Minister of Norway re-posted the image following its removal, criticizing the social network for removing it in the first place.
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Facebook did not respond to immediate requests for comment.
