Dutch court orders Facebook to identify revenge porn cad

A Dutch court has ordered Facebook to turn over the identity of a user who posted a revenge porn video.

Revenge porn, in which former lovers or spouses post intimate photos or videos — almost always of women — without the consent of the target has become an increasingly serious problem. Social network companies are only now beginning to seriously address the issue.

Facebook has claimed that the identity information no longer exists because it wiped out the fake account from which the video was posted. But the Amsterdam District Court says that if Facebook can't provide the information, it must allow an expert from outside the company verify that it's gone and irretrievable.

"Facebook has a legal obligation to provide the information because the unknown person acted illegally and the information cannot be obtained elsewhere," the court ruled.

Facebook told Reuters in a statement that the "offending account was ultimately deleted before we received any request for user data. We deeply empathise with the victim's experience and share her desire to keep this kind of non-consensual imagery off of Facebook."

The case involves a 21-year-old woman identified only as Chantal. She sued Facebook over the February sex video, which clearly shows her with her then-boyfriend in 2011, when they were both minors. The ex-boyfriend made the tape but denies posting it online. Though it was removed from Facebook within an hour of its posting, it was downloaded and posted elsewhere on the internet where it continues to circulate.

Chantal's attorney says the posted video has turned her life into a "hell."

Google recently changed its policy so that revenge porn will be shielded from search results, but only if a target asks for the site to be hidden.