How We Took On Facebook

A horrific campaign of abuse against a South African girl has led to an costly legal showdown with the social media giant

- Kim Abrahams

It began in May and played out over five harrowing days – and by the end a young girl was so traumatised and terrified she refused to leave the house and could barely sleep or eat.

The 13-year-old was a victim of such appalling online bullying on Instagram her parents turned to Facebook Inc, owner of Instagram, in a bid to get them to reveal the person behind the posts.

It led to a groundbreaking case in the high court in Johannesburg brought by one of SA’s most high-profile social media lawyers – and included hiring attorneys halfway across the world before Facebook agreed to get involved.

Social media experts have slammed the media giant’s actions as despicable and accused the online giant of building an “impenetrable fortress” around it – while all the time claiming to have their users’ rights and safety at heart.

Fortunately, there’s been a favourable outcome for the Joburg teen. The case was withdrawn following two weeks of “confidential developments”, says Emma Sadleir, the lawyer hired by the girl’s family

While she can’t go into detail as the girl is a minor, she did confirm the story has had the ending Sadleir and the family sought.

But it’s been an arduous two-month battle that’s cost the family hundreds of thousands of rands when it should’ve taken no time at all nor cost a cent, Sadleir says.

“It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that Facebook should’ve handed the information over sooner,” she says.