This May 16, 2012, file photo shows a Facebook logo displayed on the screen of an iPad in New York. AP FILE PHOTO
Facebook officials have lost its bid to stop a lawsuit filed by a 14-year-old girl whose naked photo appeared on the famed social media platform.
The teenager from Belfast, Northern Ireland, who has remained unidentified due to her age, is suing the company, along with a man who spammed malicious photos of her as a form of “revenge porn.”
The leaked obscene image was posted multiple times on a ”shame page” on the social network from November 2014 to January 2016, according to cnet.com.
During the hearings, the company argued that it took the picture down on more than one occasion as soon as it was notified.
The victim, however, believes Facebook didn’t do enough to prevent the photo from sitting on the social network for more than a year.
The girl’s lawyers added that Facebook should have prevented republication of the photo by using a process to identify and track the image.
In 2011, the company introduced a Microsoft technology called PhotoDNA to detect child exploitation material, which they continue to use to this day.
Responding to the judge’s ruling, the company added that it does not allow nudity and sexual exploitation on its network. “There’s no place for this kind of content on Facebook and we remove it when it’s reported to us,” an FB spokesperson said in the report.
“We care deeply about protecting people’s safety and work with charities, academics and experts across the UK and Ireland to develop grass-roots education programs and help create an environment where everyone feels safe,” the company said in a statement.
Despite the company’s strong argument, Belfast Justice Ben Stephens refused to dismiss the case. The lawsuit is expected to materialize into a full-blown trial at a future date. Khristian Ibarrola