14-year-old Northern Ireland girl, to sue Facebook over naked photo

Northern Ireland: A 14-year-old Northern Ireland girl is to sue Facebook after a naked photo of her was posted on a “shame page” on the site. A High Court judge in Belfast who gave the girl the go ahead to sue the social media giant rejected the social media giant’s argument after it tried to have the matter thrown out.

The teenager not named for legal reasons, is seeking damages for misuse of private information, negligence and breach of the Data Protection Act.

According to reports by Dublin’s 98FM, Lawyers representing the teenager say the image should have been blocked, but Facebook insists it doesn’t have to do that under European law.

She’s suing Facebook and the person who uploaded the photo in what lawyers claim is believed to be the first case of its kind in the world.

Sky News UK reports that the girl’s lawyers alleged that the photo was obtained through blackmail and then repeatedly posted on a “shame page” on Facebook several times between November 2014 and January 2016.

The girl's lawyers argued that Facebook could use a “fingerprinting” technology to stop the photo being re-uploaded.


The girl is also suing the person who allegedly uploaded the picture in an act of revenge.

The case of the 14-year-old girl is the latest in a series of censorship issues confronting Facebook. 

Last week Facebook was forced to defend it’s decision to block the use of a historic photo of a nine-year-old napalm girl fleeing after a bomb was dropped in her town during the Vietnam War.

 

The social media said the photo violated its community standards on nudity but later reinstated the post after succumbing to public pressure.