Private facebook messages made public

lifeandtimes

Hey,

Can anyone point to the right legislation regarding this?

I found some info online but it was for the US (https://www.quora.com/Is-it-legal-to-take-screenshots-of-a-chat-conversation-without-the-other-persons-explicit-consent)

If someone has been messaged on Facebook by someone they do or don't know in say an abusive manner,can they post that chat publicly? I've seen people it's happened to post them clearly and some with blurred out names

The court case in the US says yes you can. "If you disclose information to your Facebook friends, you potentially have disclosed it to the entire world."

In the case that it was doscovered in this based on the following reasons

The government did not hack his Facebook account.
The government did not subpoena information from Facebook.
Instead, the government obtained information that was voluntarily disclosed by one of Palmieri’s Facebook friends.
Telling Facebook Friends = No Expectation of Privacy

Can anyone link me to Irish case law or example of this here?

Thanks

ohnonotgmail

your link doesnt work.

ETA: you need to take out the ")" at the end of the link

Kimbot

TBH i doubt you will find an irish case for this. If lets say you send me an abusive message on FB and I post screenshots or whatever I think there is nothing that can be done about it bar maybe request it be removed.

lifeandtimes

jonnycivic wrote: »

TBH i doubt you will find an irish case for this. If lets say you send me an abusive message on FB and I post screenshots or whatever I think there is nothing that can be done about it bar maybe request it be removed.

Hi,

Thanks that what i thought.

Do you think it would make any difference if say the person receiving the abusive messages sent them to a 3rd party who then posted it publicly on a website? As in it wasn't made public between the 2 parties at the time but then it was by a 3rd at the request of one of them?

Thanks for your advice so far

ohnonotgmail

lifeandtimes wrote: »

Hi,

Thanks that what i thought.

Do you think it would make any difference if say the person receiving the abusive messages sent them to a 3rd party who then posted it publicly on a website? As in it wasn't made public between the 2 parties at the time but then it was by a 3rd at the request of one of them?

Thanks for your advice so far

I dont see how that would make any difference. Once the first party sends the message then they no longer control how it is used.

GerardKeating

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

I dont see how that would make any difference. Once the first party sends the message then they no longer control how it is used.

Could the third party (or OP) posting the message be "done" for defamation ?

Mr. Incognito

This is out and out legal advice and is banned.

ohnonotgmail

GerardKeating wrote: »

Could the third party (or OP) posting the message be "done" for defamation ?

well the first part didnt publish it so no defamation on their part. I cant see how it would apply to subsequent parties.

Steve

ohnonotgmail wrote: »

well the first part didnt publish it so no defamation on their part. I cant see how it would apply to subsequent parties.

'Publishing' is a loose term and can include telling your mate in the pub on Friday.

Rule of thumb is don't put stuff on the internet that you wouldn't write on the wall outside your house and sign it.

goz83

defamation only applies if something untrue is published.

hullaballoo

Not so, a true statement can be defamatory. Truth is a defence that must be raised once the statement is shown to be defamatory in the first instance.

If the defendant cannot establish the defamatory statement is true to the satisfaction of the tribunal, then the defendant is liable.

There are a few examples that spring to mind. Unfortunately they are all defamatory and I do not think I could establish that they are true if needed!

Pro Hoc Vice

hullaballoo wrote: »

Not so, a true statement can be defamatory. Truth is a defence that must be raised once the statement is shown to be defamatory in the first instance.

If the defendant cannot establish the defamatory statement is true to the satisfaction of the tribunal, then the defendant is liable.

There are a few examples that spring to mind. Unfortunately they are all defamatory and I do not think I could establish that they are true if needed!

An example https://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2013/jun/12/daily-mirror-liberace

Carawaystick

It might be subject to copyright of the original abusive poster, if it meets the copyright law threshold of an original literary work.