The unidentified 18-year-old’s parents allegedly began posting their daughter’s baby pictures on Facebook in 2009. These pictures that were shared with the couple’s 700 Facebook friends include shots of their baby having her diaper changed and being potty-training. The teen repeatedly asked her parents to delete the pictures but they refused. So she is suing them.
The Local, that first broke the story, quotes the woman as saying her parents “knew no shame and had no limits.” They did not care how she felt about the pictures that included her naked or sitting on the toilet. She said her father claims since he took the photos, he holds the rights to them and can do what he wants with the pictures. The young woman added she brought the lawsuit because she was tired of her parents not listening to her and taking her seriously.
Unlike France, Austria does not have strict laws dealing with these types of matters. A new law introduced in France in March 2016 makes it a crime for someone to publish or distribute photos of another person without their consent. Anyone who is convicted of this offence can be sent to prison for up to a year and fined up to €45,000.
The teen’s lawyer, Michael Rami, thinks his client has a good chance of succeeding in the litigation. According to Rami, she can win as long as she can prove the posting of the pictures violated her rights to a private life. Should the young woman be successful, her parents will be responsible for her legal costs.
As Mashable points out, laws that govern conduct on social media are “incomplete and constantly evolving.” People should be very careful about posting and sharing pictures of their children on social media sites if those photos could be considered indecent.
The lawsuit is scheduled to be heard in November.
