The Georgia Court of Appeals has ruled that parents can be held liable for their child’s Social Media or Facebook posts, setting a legal precedent on the issue of parental responsibility for their children’s online activity. With the rise in the use of social media this ruling may begin to see more lawsuits appearing before the courts.
Child’s Social Media Facebook Posts May Bring Legal Action
In the Georgia case of Boston vs Athearns, the Boston’s sought damages for libel and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit claimed that the Athearns (parents) made no effort to compel their child to delete or remove the fake Facebook page he had made about their minor child.
The Georgia Court of Appeals upheld the negligence claims against the parents and concluded that a jury could find the parents’ negligence caused some part of the injury to the child which was sustained not only from their child’s actions but from the inactions of the parents.
Parental Action Needed to Check Child’s Facebook Posts
The Georgia Court of Appeals ruled that even though the parents could not anticipate their child using the computer in a harmful way, once they found out about the creation of the fake profile, they had a duty to supervise further computer activities.
The court argued that the parents’ non-actions could be negligent, because having been informed of the problematic page their son created, they may have had a responsibility to then monitor that page.
Child’s Facebook and Social Media Cyber Bullying Attorney
When your child has been involved in online behaviors that may cause emotional distress or harm, post comments or pictures that defame, publically embarrass, or result in self-harm to others, you need a lawyer with the experience and background to handle your case.
Call the office of Joel Baskin without delay for experienced legal representation.