UK: Ruling against inadvertently identifying a victim of sexual assault based on social media image
by Cristina BachmeierIn its decision in early March, the Westminster Magistrates Court found a British newspaper, The Sun, guilty of breaking the Sexual Offence (Amendment) Act after inadvertently identifying a victim of sexual assault.
The newspaper published a picture, which had been obtained from the social media platform Facebook, showing the victim together with the prominent perpetrator. The image of the victim had been heavily obscured by the newspaper and the article contained a warning that identification of the victim online and on social media would be followed by prosecution. The newspaper even included examples of convictions regarding identification of…