Facebook sued by Irish father over sexual photos of girl (12)

jay-me

http://www.herald.ie/news/facebook-sued-by-father-over-sexual-photos-of-girl-12-2867431.html

AN Irish father is taking a landmark case against Facebook after sexually suggestive photos of his 12-year-old daughter appeared on the website.

The distraught father has claimed his daughter has been put at risk from paedophiles as a result of the publication of the images.

Facebook, the world's largest social networking site, has 730 million users around the world.

If the case is successful, the global brand worth an estimated €20bn would be facing a huge payout.

Hilary Carmichael, the solicitor acting for the father, told the Herald that Facebook does not have any checks in place to ensure children are over the permitted age, 13, when they open an account.

Harm

"I was able to access this girl's Facebook page myself before we issued the writ. She has more than 485 friends ... some from the western provinces of Nigeria," she revealed.

The writ lodged in Belfast High Court alleges the company is "guilty of negligence" and has created "a risk of sexual and physical harm" to the child.

It claims the girl has received sexually explicit text messages from adult men and that men asked her to post images of herself online.

The girl, who is from Co Antrim, cannot be identified for legal reasons.

It is believed she posted the provocative material on the site herself.

She even revealed personal details like where she lived, the name of her school and areas where she hangs out.

The girl suffers from behaviour problems and is in a voluntary care institution.

Mother-of-three Ms Car-michael told the Herald she has come across similar Facebook pages of children who live in the Republic of Ireland and she warned parents to be vigilant.

"We've had parents who've been in contact with us whose children live in the Republic and operate Facebook pages in the Republic.

"If they have any concerns, they should shut it down straight away," the Derry solicitor said.

She added that it is easy to pin down the location of a child by following posts on the site.

"A lot of children are innocent and they don't know the dangers.

"That's why they shouldn't be allowed Facebook pages -- they're too young," said Ms Carmichael who has launched the childrenonfacebook.com site to warn parents about the risks.

The High Court writ was served on the US company today.

ADULTS

Among the 12-year-old girl's Facebook 'friends' are adults in Ireland, Britain and elsewhere.

The girl's father has said he is "worried sick" thinking about the danger she could be in, adding his concern is she would go off with someone she met on the social networking site.

"There was another photo of my daughter lifting up her top but that has been removed," the man said.

Facebook, whose international headquarters are located in Dublin said it is committed to removing inappropriate and indecent photos once a complaint has been made.

It is the latest court action to hit the company.

A recent case involved businessman and racehorse owner JP McManus who had sought an injunction to force Facebook to shut down accounts claiming to be him.

The action was struck out in May after lawyers for the company took down the profiles.

Is this man for real??? Since when should the internet monitor your kids for you??? If he was being vigilant with his parental responsibilities this wouldn't have happened!

Logical Fallacy

Another win for lazy parenting.

starbelgrade

jay-me wrote: »

Is this man for real??? Since when should the internet monitor your kids for you???

It'd be great if it could - you'd save a fortune on child care.

hondasam

I agree parents should monitor their children but it's to easy to sign up to FB.

Helix

i hope he wins the case, is awarded a euro, and is then jailed for posting child porn from his home ip address

that'll teach him to blame others for his idiot daughter

looky loo

Logical Fallacy wrote: »

Another win for lazy parenting.

Agreed, obviously hasnt watched 'To catch a predator', scary stuff.

4leto

What is facebook meant to do, how on earth could they guard against what people put up.

This is as ridicules as Ryan Giggs suing Twitter.

I can't see him winning.

starbelgrade

looky loo wrote: »

Agreed, obviously hasnt watched 'To catch a predator', scary stuff.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was great in that.

baalthor

Oh No ! Can't have the West Nigerians looking at our kids !

Ditch

jay-me wrote: »

Is this man for real???

" If the case is successful, the global brand worth an estimated €20bn would be facing a huge payout. "


Right there.

PseudoFamous

Helix wrote: »

i hope he wins the case, is awarded a euro, and is then jailed for posting child porn from his home ip address

Just no. He was unaware of what was happening. While he did not prevent it, he didn't cause it or post the pictures. The parents should be done for negligence, though.

squod

Pics or ........ no wait

K-9

The same moron would probably be moaning if she couldn't get a Google account:

How Underage Google Users Can Bypass the Age Limit - TIME

The Scientician

Helix wrote: »

i hope he wins the case, is awarded a euro, and is then jailed for posting child porn from his home ip address

that'll teach him to blame others for his idiot daughter

I'm not sure if it's fair to call a 12 year old an idiot, but then if what we hear about her dad is true...

IvySlayer

He should sue himself for allowing his 12 year old daughter use the internet without any supervision.

nitromaster

http://childrenonfacebook.com/

She asks for a copy of the child's age, name, address, dob...also "Please attach a copy of the photographic image or images if possible"

um....

She's actively asking for images of children?

jay-me

There is no policing the internet... People aren't going to need their passports to log on! well not yet anyway (Although you do in Italy in internet cafes).

The fact of the matter is it is up to parents to safeguard their kids on the net! There are net nanny's etc he could have used and having the computer in a communal room would thwart that carry on!

To expect the internet as a whole to prevent your kids from accessing stuff they shouldn't is rediculous!

Helix

PseudoFamous wrote: »

Just no. He was unaware of what was happening. While he did not prevent it, he didn't cause it or post the pictures.

neither did facebook

K-9

I'd suggest taking away mobile phones and laptops from the 12 year old.

Perverts will always exist on the Net, look at AH! Educating a child on it takes time and effort.

MungBean

hondasam wrote: »

I agree parents should monitor their children but it's to easy to sign up to FB.

If you allow your child unmonitored access to the internet facebook is not the only thing thats easy to sign up to or the only way to endanger yourself. No doubt the father knew she used facebook but didnt know what she did on it.

Shocking parenting.

She was given enough time on the internet to accumulate almost 500 friends and enough privacy to post those photos of herself, and it's the internet's fault? What did he think she was doing online all the time?

It's a pity we can't ethically make having children illegal without a license.

amacachi

Kid with "behaviour problems" allowed to use internet with no supervision ends in something objectionable happening shocker.

Guy:Incognito

hondasam wrote: »

I agree parents should monitor their children but it's to easy to sign up to FB.

You can get in to porn sites by clickign a box agreeing that you are over 18.

What do you want sites to do when dealing with anonymous people on computers?How do you do a check online to determine 100% that a person is 13 and not 12? Hell how would you even do it face to face unless they have a passport ont hem.

hondasam

Skunkle wrote: »

If you allow your child unmonitored access to the internet facebook is not the only thing thats easy to sign up to or the only way to endanger yourself. No doubt the father knew she used facebook but didnt know what she did on it.

I'm sure he did know she used it and like many's the parent he trusted her.

mikemac

Been involved in two inquries and sueing the State
And have a hospital sign on their claims section

http://hilarycarmichael.com/claims/

Shower of ambulance chasers :rolleyes:

I suspect it's the solicitor driving this one forward. Trying to make the claim of a lifetime against twenty billion Facebook
Solicitor doesn't give a damn about the family

"That's why they shouldn't be allowed Facebook pages -- they're too young," said Ms Carmichael who has launched the childrenonfacebook.com site to warn parents about the risks.

Sounds good, a site with info.
Except it's not at all.......

These ask for all your details and profile and photos and

You may be entitled to claim compensation or other remedy, are you happy for a representative of our law firm to contact you in relation to the same

Money grubbing lawyers

hondasam

true-or-false wrote: »

Shocking parenting.

It's a pity we can't ethically make having children illegal without a license.

I hate when people say this, it's so stupid.

MungBean

hondasam wrote: »

I'm sure he did know she used it and like many's the parent he trusted her.

Therein lies the problem. Parents are responsible not the site. Short of validating accounts with passports or credit cards (which would kill the site) they can do nothing. And even at that I'm sure the majority of parents trusting their kids would sign up for them anyway.

amacachi

hondasam wrote: »

I hate when people say this, it's so stupid.

Howso?

Yakult

I hope he loses the battle and has to pay thousands for legal action.
Sounds like a prick who is just trying to make an easy buck...

looky loo

God I'd hate to be a parent these days, everything is so sexualised, kids dont get a chance to be kids anymore, bombarded with this fantasised image of what is beautiful and then basing their self-worth on acknowledgement.

K-9

hondasam wrote: »

I'm sure he did know she used it and like many's the parent he trusted her.

Yep, 12 year old need to be vetted on a site like Facebook. If a parent sets up an account for them they should use the privacy section on it. Most adults at this stage restrict their Facebook accounts.

up for anything

The girl suffers from behaviour problems and is in a voluntary care institution.

You all seem to have missed this bit. Surely he should be suing the care institution?

Ason Unique

Consequences will never be the same...

callaway92

I think we need to see these pictures to understand this totally.

ScumLord

jay-me wrote: »

If he was being vigilant with his parental responsibilities this wouldn't have happened!

It's kind of impossible to spy on a person 24/7.

looky loo wrote: »

God I'd hate to be a parent these days, everything is so sexualised, kids dont get a chance to be kids anymore,

They didn't in the past either. Not so long ago 13 would have been marriage age.

Helix

hondasam wrote: »

I agree parents should monitor their children but it's to easy to sign up to FB.

its easier to block it from your home network

Cupcake_Crisis

ScumLord wrote: »

It's kind of impossible to spy on a person 24/7.

You dont have to spy on anyone 24/7, he just had to monitor her internet usage. He's trying to blame bad parenting on Facebook, its ridiculous!

cofy

up for anything wrote: »

You all seem to have missed this bit. Surely he should be suing the care institution?

I was just about to bring this up, surely if you have a child with behavour problems, you would be trying to keep a closer eye on what that child is up to.

PennyLane88

Ya and where was he when she set up the facebook account, and made 'friends' with hundreds of people?? I suppose thats facebooks fault for not supervising :rolleyes:

Could he not have actually supervised what websites she was visiting, or maybe even block sites that could accessed on the PC, god forbid would he actually be proactive about preventing this from happening. There is absolutely no way to police the internet like real life, how would you? You dont need a passport or any ID, so there aint much facebook can do.

It will be interesting to see the outcome though. I can't see him winning, but you wouldn't know, stranger things have happened.....

hondasam

PennyLane88 wrote: »

Ya and where was he when she set up the facebook account, and made 'friends' with hundreds of people?? I suppose thats facebooks fault for not supervising :rolleyes:

Could he not have actually supervised what websites she was visiting, or maybe even block sites that could accessed on the PC, god forbid would he actually be proactive about preventing this from happening. There is absolutely no way to police the internet like real life, how would you? You dont need a passport or any ID, so there aint much facebook can do.

It will be interesting to see the outcome though. I can't see him winning, but you wouldn't know, stranger things have happened.....

The girl suffers from behaviour problems and is in a voluntary care institution.
We don't know if she was living with the father when it happened.

gbee

Logical Fallacy wrote: »

Another win for lazy parenting.

I don't know TBH, he took action before she was abducted sold into sex slavery!

PennyLane88

hondasam wrote: »

The girl suffers from behaviour problems and is in a voluntary care institution.
We don't know if she was living with the father when it happened.

So was the voluntary care institution not responsible then? And if she suffers from behavioural problems, should they not be supervising what she does on the net more closely? That would be from a common sense point of view.

MrStuffins

bringing stupid and frivolous cases like this in front of a judge should be made a criminal offense! What a complete clown!

Epicness

Friends from the western provinces of Nigeria lmao!

hondasam

PennyLane88 wrote: »

So was the voluntary care institution not responsible then? And if she suffers from behavioural problems, should they not be supervising what she does on the net more closely? That would be from a common sense point of view.

Don't know it doesn't say where she was living at the time or how the father found out about it. He will probably sue the care unit as well.

Alopex

are sexually suggestive pictures even illegal for 12 year olds? and can they be legally defined? it doesn't say nudity so i'm guessing their was none.

will come to nothing i'd say

--Kaiser--

Ason Unique wrote: »

Consequences will never be the same...

They done goofed

Crazy Horse 6

hondasam wrote: »

I hate when people say this, it's so stupid.

Take a walk around inner city Dublin and you'll change your mind.

bohsfan

Facebook have developed software that can detect peoples faces in photos and tag them. Surely they could use this software to detect when certain bodily parts are present in pictures and refuse to upload them?

Chris P. Bacon

bohsfan wrote: »

Facebook have developed software that can detect peoples faces in photos and tag them. Surely they could use this software to detect when certain bodily parts are present in pictures and refuse to upload them?

Facebook wouldnt know its arse from its elbow...

The girl is in care and had behavioural problems, I think this raise much bigger questions should people be saved from themselves when they behave in unhealthy and harmful ways.

If she was 16 and was still a young woman with behavioural problems and was posting in a very sexual way on facebook, would we say let her do as she wants as long as its legal, it don't matter that she is vulnerable and involved in destructive behaviour?