Facebook revenge porn conviction

A young Icelandic man has been sentenced to a two-month suspended prison sentence for posting five nude pictures of his ex-girlfriend on Facebook. The accompanying status read “Thank you for cheating on me, babe”, together with the 17-year-old girl’s full name.

The man, who was 18 at the time of the offence but 19 now, was sentenced by the North-East Iceland District Court to pay the girl damages of ISK 250,000 (approx. €1,700) and to cover legal costs of over ISK 600,000 (€4,000).

Various factors affecting sentence

The man was convicted of offences against modesty and violations of child-protection legislation. He has no previous convictions and made no attempt at any point in the proceedings to deny or cover up his actions. This, combined with his young age, resulted in a more lenient sentence.

On the other hand, the young age of the girl and the seriousness of the offence were also taken into account when passing sentence. The photographs were posted on the Facebook social-media site with the full name of the girl in question. Despite the fact that the man removed the photographs after just a few minutes, the sentence took into account how easily and quickly such material can be passed on.

Previous case set a precedent

The girl had sent the man nude pictures of her buttocks and genitals while they were together.

The sentence refers back to a similar case of ‘revenge porn’ heard at the Supreme Court earlier this year. It is undisputed that the photographs were published without the consent of the girl, who had sent them to the man in confidence while they were in a sexual relationship.