Tuesday, 28 June 2016 - 15:40
Dutch mom sues Instagram over nude pics in teen daughter's name
A mother from Hoorn filed a lawsuit against social network Instagram to court in an attempt to find out who created a fake account in her 15-year-old daughter's name. The account is covered in nude and sexually explicit photos. According to the mother, it isn't her daughter on the photos but she is still being bullied about it, the Volkskrant reports.
The account has been deleted, but Instagram will not give up user data without a court order.
The girl's family has a "very strong suspicion" about who is responsible for the account - a group of young people who bullied the girl in the past. The name they called her was also not the Instagram account.
"This is not the only incident", lawyer Marianne Zeeman said in the lawsuit. "The girl was urged several times to commit suicide." The family feels that this lawsuit against Instagram is the only way to deal with these bullies. "The police are already involved, but they get away with it every time."
Instagram stated that it is a neutral platform that only acts as an intermediary and is therefore not responsible for what is on the server. The American company also has the duty to protect user privacy. According to Instagram's lawyer, Jens van den Brink, the social media platform is between a rock and a hard place. It will only give available information once the court orders it.
The court in Alkmaar will rule on this case by July 11th at the latest.