Man sues dating site because of porn
'16.04.2017'
Source: CNN
Over the past 5 months, Matthew Garrick, in his own words, has received more than 1100 calls and messages for both home and work communications. And all these were men who wanted him. So Garrick searched his photos on the social network. Grindrcreated for members of the LGBT community.
It turned out that the 32-year-old Garrick suffered from the fact that his candid photos were published in this social network, reports CNN. The former guy Garrick, whom he met just in Grindr, as the investigation suggests, had a fake account since October 2016. In the recordings, there were photos of Garrick, his personal data, and even false information that he was supposedly HIV-positive. In addition, his former friend invited other men to visit the work of Gerrick. In some cases, he even wrote that Garrick is addicted to role-playing games, hard sex and rape.
This case clearly demonstrates that the era of social networks can lead us to the publication of our personal data and even sexual harassment.
“But what is social media to blame?” Says Aaron McKay, a lawyer for the company. Electronic Foundation. “What is the corporate or ethnic responsibility of the company for the fact that some users are abusing this platform?” According to McKay, the answers to these questions have profound consequences.
Article 230 of the US Electronic Communications Act, passed back in 1996, concerns this case (as well as many others). According to this paragraph, companies providing Internet services are obliged to protect the interests of users - and, consequently, the law protects them from legal prosecution for abusing clients.
In 2015 Company Grindr She used this law very wittyly: the company refused to protect a person arrested for having sex with an underage teenager. But in the case of Garrick, lawyers Carrie Goldberg and Thor Eckland refer to other regulations. In particular - for fraud in the wording of the amendment to the law of March 31.
“Basically, our job is to find holes in Article 230,” Goldberg admits. - No legal framework will help any provider if users place something wrong there. And it is so clear that the Internet site is not responsible. And the same Art. 230 doesn't fix anything. "
The lawsuit we are talking about began in January in a New York State court, but in February, she moved to the US Federal Court at the request of the Internet company itself. According to judicial papers, the system Grindr contained more than a hundred fake accounts. This is only the number for which formal complaints have been filed with law enforcement agencies.
At the same time in the conditions of subscription to the online platform it is clearly stated that fake accounts are not allowed - but there is not a word about whether the company can delete them and how. Although, according to Matthew Zeiler, the founder of the face recognition company on the Internet Clarifai in fact, there are a huge number of options for identifying users, and about a third of them understand these techniques.
As officially stated in Grindr, they intend to “create a secure electronic platform, which, however, will encourage users to a variety of activities. During these changes, do not forget: we are an open area. But, of course, our company always cooperates with law enforcement officers in the event of a possible violation of the law. ”
Refused from more detailed comments about this statement in the company. At the same time, just a week earlier, Facebook announced the introduction of measures against the spread of "porno-revenge." The company said that they would introduce automatic recognition of faces in photos and videos containing images of people not only in erotic postures, but also in a drunken or any other non-standard state. The same applies to systems Messenger и Instagram.
Regarding the case described above, Garrick’s lawsuit demanded that his former partner delete his accounts and be denied access to the site. Ex-boyfriend Garrick declined to comment on this, but promised to do it later.
Neville Johnson of Johnson & Johnson believes that this kind of thing doesn't need legislation. “No laws will hold back technology,” he said. "Everyone can be identified and blocked - it's just that Internet companies don't want to do this." Meanwhile, attorney David Gingres specializing in Art. 230 considers that cases of violation of this article are becoming more frequent. “Users are increasingly abusing the capabilities of the Web - and no one cares. But the question is who is to blame, ”he said.
Lawyer Goldberg, for his part, is not going to retreat. She will demand in court to recognize such opportunities of Internet sites as dangerous and to prohibit such opportunities. In particular - require from companies Google и Apple exclude system Grindr from their search engines.
She compares Garrick's case to the famous electric car battery explosions. “If both the manufacturer and the seller know that the battery may explode, they are at least obligated to warn the buyer about it,” she said.
