Court rules parents responsible for child's Facebook behavior

In a ruling that set legal precedent and could have far-reaching consequences if other courts follow suit, the Georgia Court of Appeals has ruled that parents can be held responsible for their child's misbehavior on Facebook.

According to the Wall Street Journal and The Washington Times, a Georgia boy posted a fake account under the name of one of his female classmates in 2011. After the girl’s family contacted the school, the boy was disciplined by administrators and his parents were notified, the Journal reported. For almost a year, however, the account remained active with sexually explicit comments and derogatory pictures.

Facebook ultimately intervened, but the court ruled that the boy’s parents could be held responsible for trauma inflicted upon the girl due to their inaction.

“Given that the false and offensive statements remained on display, and continued to reach readers, for an additional eleven months, we conclude that a jury could find that the [parents’] negligence proximately caused some part of the injury [the girl] sustained from [the boy’s] actions (and inactions),” wrote Judge John J. Ellington in the opinion, which was backed by two other judges, the Journal reported.