Supreme Court To Hear Facebook Bullying Case

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First Posted: 10/14/11 07:19 PM ET Updated: 12/14/11 05:12 AM ET


A Nova Scotia girl's fight to have disparaging Facebook postings about her kept secret is going to the Supreme Court of Canada.


The case could ultimately weigh the privacy of someone who has been tormented against the public's right to transparency in the legal system.


The girl, known as A.B. in court rulings, was the victim of cyber bullying. In March 2010, when she was 15, someone created a fake Facebook profile under a name slightly different than hers, with her picture and other identifying information.


The profile contained comments on her weight and appearance and, it is alleged, "scandalous sexual commentary of a private and intimate nature," as the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal characterized it. The profile was taken down later that month.


Halifax lawyer Michelle Awad, acting on the girl's behalf, found out from Facebook the internet address of the person who posted and updated the profile. The IP address, as it's known, was traced to a Dartmouth, N.S., customer of Maritimes internet provider Eastlink.


When A.B. then applied to the courts to force Eastlink to turn over the name of its customer so she could sue for libel, she asked that the judge shield her identity and the content of the hoax Facebook profile from publication.


The judge agreed to order Eastlink to comply, but denied the publication ban. The girl's appeal to the Nova Scotia Court of Appeal was also denied.


As is its practice, the Supreme Court of Canada did not give reasons in its decision on Thursday to hear the matter. But a summary posted on the court's website states that issues include the "inherent vulnerability of young girls subject to online sexualized bullying" and the "serious risk of harm to them if they are required to republish comments and reveal their identity to seek a remedy."

No date has been set for the hearing of the appeal. The earliest the top court would likely rule on the case would be fall 2012.

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A Nova Scotia girl's fight to have disparaging Facebook postings about her kept secret is going to the Supreme Court of Canada. The case could ultimately weigh the privacy of ...
A Nova Scotia girl's fight to have disparaging Facebook postings about her kept secret is going to the Supreme Court of Canada. The case could ultimately weigh the privacy of ...
Filed by Michael Bolen  | 
 
 
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
piceaglauca
The picture says it all....
11:28 AM on 10/16/2011
If this was such a serious matter which obviously it is then knowing it , there is no reason for it to get this far except in the larger context of a ruling. Putting that part aside this matter could have been quickly resolved through the tracing of this IPS address and the assistance of Facebook personnel to identify the person or persons and location of the posting. This is the trouble today these would be snipers hide behind their rights to disclosure while the rest of us sit back and suck it up. Come on Facebook manage your site.
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
DidiM
Human 'being'
02:42 PM on 10/15/2011
When & where did the 'Practice of 'not giving reasons for decisions made by Our Courts' begin? Anyone know? And does anyone know why?
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HUFFPOST COMMUNITY MODERATOR
elizlucinda
a mind is a terrible thing to waste
05:51 PM on 10/15/2011
I believe that has been the practise of the Court for many years. There really isn't any reason to publish their reasons other than to satisfy intellectual curiosity
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HUFFPOST SUPER USER
Jake Thomas
elastic
09:31 PM on 10/15/2011
I heard it is because the Court does not want us to know a lot of their decisions are based on "Rock, Paper, Scissors".