A sex offender recently released from prison in Northern Ireland fears he may be attacked after his photo was posted on a Facebook page, “Keeping Our Kids Safe From Predators.” His photo and the accompanying comments have already been removed from the page, but his attorney wants the page shut down completely.
One comment called for him to be “put down like an animal,” while another one ridiculed him for his suit against Facebook, saying “So the man, or I mean mess of a human being, that’s taken this page to court, he must want to be the head pedophile and rule over all sex offenders. He will be like a god to them.”
The man and his legal representative, Jule Eillison, want the page shut down completely. “The risk, the plaintiff would say, is that this sort of vitriol will translate into physical action of some type either against the plaintiff personally or against him and his property,” Ellison said. The defense for Facebook, meanwhile, has argued that it wouldn’t do any good to shut down the page, which acts as a message board for healthy discussion about sex offenders and appropriate punishments.
Both privacy and freedom of speech rights can be tricky when it comes to criminals. However, at least in the eyes of the law, criminals are no less worthy of privacy than law-abiding citizens.
Recommended Resources
BitDefender Safego is a Facebook application you can install that will scan your News Feed and help keep you safe from scams on Facebook.
PRIVATE WiFi® is a Personal VPN that encrypts everything you send and receive. Don’t access Facebook from a public WiFi hotspot without it.
Action Alert | Free Parental Control offers a 100% free Internet safety solution designed for parents. There is also a Maximum Protection option for parents that need a more advanced set of tools.
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