17/08/2012

Facebook Must Provide Names In Belfast Abusive Messages Case

The social networking site Facebook has been ordered to identify people who posted abusive messages online about a Belfast company.

Belfast High Court was told that three staff members from an unnamed firm were targeted by anonymous messages over a time period of several months.

Those responsible used pseudonyms and have since closed their accounts.

A lawyer representing Facebook said the internet giant would comply with orders imposed by Belfast High Court.

Facebook has been given 24 hours to provide the email addresses of those responsible and 10 days to supply more information about them to the court.

A lawyer acting for the Belfast company told the court that if the firm was to be identified in the case it would only draw more public attention to the matter, which is what they were trying to avoid.

The judge, Mr Justice Weatherup, ruled that the Belfast firm in question was not to be named and no details of the content of Facebook posts were disclosed in the High Court.

The case was adjourned until 6 September.

(NE)

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