Teen Girls Convicted of Instagram Defamation in Sweden

On June 25, 2013, two Swedish girls, aged 15 and 16, were convicted of defamation for posting photos of other young individuals accompanied with sexually derogatory comments and accusations on the photo-sharing website Instagram. The content was posted throughout December 2012 and included the photos and names of students as young as 13, in association with comments regarding their alleged sexual activity. Forensic evidence was used to tie the two girls to the anonymous Instagram account. The younger of the two eventually confessed to being behind the account while her older accomplice continued to deny involvement. Collectively, the teens will pay 15,000 kronor (approx. $2,350 CAD) in damages to each of the 38 victims the girls posted content on totalling 570,000 kronor (approx. $90,000 CAD). In addition, the younger of the two was sentenced for a period in juvenile detention, and the other received 45 hours of community service. In its decision regarding sentencing and fines, the Gothenburg District Court considered the type of information posted and held that in all cases it was of a, “deeply intrusive nature.” The Court also considered the fact that the information “spread quickly and widely.” For more commentary see: http://tinyurl.com/l97wd8m; and http://tinyurl.com/mpx6mar Summary by: Thomas Wong