Social media relationship turns ugly for Gauteng woman
This week, our social media law expert tells the story of a woman who found herself in a situation after getting involved with a man she met on social media.
Last week, I was lucky enough to receive an email from one of the show's listeners who is a magistrate and who kindly sent me an important judgement from Gauteng.
It told a sad tale, which has become far too commonplace these days, of a relationship gone bad. A scorned lover turned to Facebook to humiliate his ex.
The relationship started in less than wholesome circumstances when one of the participants lied about being single.
The couple soon became seriously involved and decided to marry, despite the man already having a wife! Much to his new girlfriend's horror, she was confronted by his spouse and promptly terminated the relationship.
He refused to accept the end of the relationship and told his ex-girlfriend that if he could not have her, then nobody could. He started a fake Facebook account and posted the intimate pictures and videos that they had shared during their relationship. Besides this awful behaviour, he also stalked her and threatened her with violence.
She approached Facebook through her attorneys to have the content removed. She also applied for a domestic violence order and requested that all her ex-boyfriend's digital devices be seized by the sheriff so that they could be forensically examined, and all the content removed. The magistrate refused to grant that part of the order.
Luckily, the brave woman took the matter on appeal and now we have a good precedent for the future.
The High Court found that the magistrate should have granted the order and that the man has shown that he could not be trusted to guard his ex-girlfriend's privacy. The court found that his right to privacy relating to the seizure of his devices was less important than her right to privacy and dignity since he had posted her pictures online.
These kinds of judgments are really important in dealing with social media law as they provide clear guidelines to us about how the courts will look at matters in future.
Verlie Oosthuizen
Shepstone & Wylie Social Media Law Department