Facebook has been sued by a 14-year-old girl over a naked picture of her being posted on a “shame page” on the social media as an act of revenge. Northern Ireland’s capital Belfast on Monday rejected Facebook’s request to have the case dismissed.
Lawyers representing the teenager argued that the image should have been blocked. However, Facebook insists that it doesn’t have to do so under European law, according to reports.
The victim is also taking legal action against the person responsible for posting the image. The girl’s lawyers said that the the pictures were taken through blackmail and was posted on a “shame page” on Facebook repeatedly since 2014.
The girl has sought damages for misuse of private information, negligence and breach of the Data Protection Act. While Facebook argued that they had taken down the image several times as soon as it was notified. However, the girl’s lawyers said that the social media could have used it’s “fingerprinting” technology to prevent the photo being re-uploaded.
Her lawyers even compared the publishing of the photo to a method of child abuse. They also said the posts amounted to hate speech. The identity of the girl has not been revealed, with the reason being that she is underage.
