The High Court - 2021 IEHC 287: Difference between revisions

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The High Court - 2021 IEHC 287

Court:	The High Court (Ireland)
Jurisdiction:	Ireland
Relevant Law:	Article 6(1)(c) GDPR Article 23 GDPR Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union
Decided:	19.05.2021
Published:
Parties:	BOARD OF MANAGEMENT OF SALESIAN SECONDARY COLLEGE (LIMERICK) FACEBOOK IRELAND LIMITED FACEBOOK IRELAND LIMITED
National Case Number/Name:	2021 IEHC 287
European Case Law Identifier:	2020 No. 1419 P
Appeal from:
Appeal to:
Original Language(s):	English
Original Source:	High Court Ireland (in English)
Initial Contributor:	Tara Taubman-Bassirian

School request the disclosure of identities of instagram account holders from Facebook. Facebook oppose by requesting a court order. The High Court judge making a reference for a preliminary ruling to the Court of Justice pursuant to Article 267 of the TFEU. The parties were invited to make submissions in respect of the necessity for same. The school authorities filed written submissions on 22 April 2021. Counsel for the school confirmed, at a directions hearing on 18 May 2021, that his side were content to rest on the written submissions and did not require a further oral hearing.

English Summary

Facts

An account on Instagram posted inappropriate, vulgar and sexual messages about staff at Salesian Secondary School in Limerick. For example, some messages ridiculed staff's sexuality, weight, and physical appearance. The photos accompanying the messages did not depict school staff but were sourced from the internet. The account also featured the school's crest and name, and referred to its official website. The messages were deleted and the account taken down after the school's solicitor posted a request on the account. The school was also able to access the password via a student.

The board of management of the school brought an application in the Irish Court seeking an order that Facebook Ireland, who own instagram, reveal the identity of the person(s) behind the account. The school expects that the now inactive user account was operated by individuals who are either students or staff members of the school. It seeks to identify these individuals for the stated purpose of “dealing with” them by way of what they describe as a “disciplinary or pastoral response”.

The school authorities had previously contacted Facebook Ireland requesting information with a view to identifying the individuals. Facebook responded stating that they could not disclose user information to a private third party without a court order or request from law enforcement.

Holding

The High Court judge, Mr. Justice Garrett Simons, considered it necessary to refer a number of questions in the case to the CJEU for a preliminary ruling, pursuant to Article 267 of the TFEU.

The request for disclosure is made where there is no intention to pursue legal proceedings for tortious wrongdoing against the persons to be identified.

The disclosure application presents significant legal issues in respect of privacy, data protection and freedom of expression, or whether an expectation of anonymity on the internet is an aspect of the right to the protection of personal data and the right to freedom of expression.

The plaintiffs have invoked Norwich Pharmacal relief or a “disclosure order”

Comment

It worth highlighting that the facts date back mid October 2019, while to court decision to refer to the ECJ has been made May 2021, one year and 7 months later. A suivre...

Further Resources

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English Machine Translation of the Decision

The decision below is a machine translation of the English original. Please refer to the English original for more details.

@@ Line 57: / Line 57: @@
 === Facts ===
-A short life account on Instagram has posted inappropriate, vulgar and sexual messages about a school staff. The messages were deleted and the account taken down after the school's solicitor posted request on the account, The school was further able to access the password via a student. The objective of these proceedings is to compel the social media platform, Instagram, to identify the individuals behind one of its user accounts.  The proceedings are taken by the board of management of a secondary school.  The school authorities apprehend that the now inactive user account had been operated by individuals who are either students or staff members of the school. They seek to identify these individuals for the stated purpose of “dealing with” them by way of what they describe as a “disciplinary or pastoral response”. The school authorities sought to contact the company providing the social media platform and requested information with a view to identifying the individuals who had operated the user account.  Facebook Ireland Ltd.’s position is they cannot  disclose  user  information  to  a  private  third  party  without  a  court  order  or  request  from  law  enforcement to be addressed to and served upon Facebook Ireland, to identify the Instagram account at issue by specific uniform resource locator (‘URL’)
+An account on Instagram posted inappropriate, vulgar and sexual messages about staff at Salesian Secondary School in Limerick. '''For example, some messages ridiculed staff's sexuality, weight, and physical appearance.''' The photos accompanying the messages did not depict school staff but were sourced from the internet. '''The account also featured the school's crest and name, and referred to its official website.''' The messages were deleted and the account taken down after the school's solicitor posted a request on the account. The school was also able to access the password via a student.
-=== Dispute ===
+'''The board of management of the school brought an application in the Irish Court seeking an order that Facebook Ireland, who own instagram, reveal the identity of the person(s) behind the account.''' The school expects that the now inactive user account was operated by individuals who are either students or staff members of the school. It seeks to identify these individuals for the stated purpose of “dealing with” them by way of what they describe as a “disciplinary or pastoral response”.
-The request for disclosure is made where there is no intention to pursue legal proceedings for tortious wrongdoing against the persons to be identified, The disclosure application presents significant  legal  issues  in  respect  of  privacy,  data  protection and freedom of expression, or whether an expectation of anonymity on the internet is an aspect of the right to the protection of personal data and the right to freedom of expression. The plaintiffs have invoked Norwich Pharmacal relief or a “disclosure order”
+The school authorities had previously contacted Facebook Ireland requesting information with a view to identifying the individuals. Facebook responded stating that they could not disclose  user  information  to  a  private  third  party  without  a  court  order  or  request  from  law  enforcement.
 === Holding ===
-The High Court judge have concluded that it was necessary to make a reference to the Court of Justice of the European Union for a preliminary ruling on these issues made pursuant to Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (“TFEU”)
+The High Court judge, Mr. Justice Garrett Simons, considered it necessary to refer a number of questions in the case to the CJEU for a preliminary ruling, pursuant to Article 267 of the TFEU.
+The request for disclosure is made where there is no intention to pursue legal proceedings for tortious wrongdoing against the persons to be identified.
+The disclosure application presents significant  legal  issues  in  respect  of  privacy,  data  protection and freedom of expression, or whether an expectation of anonymity on the internet is an aspect of the right to the protection of personal data and the right to freedom of expression.
+The plaintiffs have invoked Norwich Pharmacal relief or a “disclosure order”
 == Comment ==
-It worth to highlight that the facts date back mid October 2019, while to court decision to refer to the ECJ has been made May 2021, a mare one year and 7 months later, the school authorities have been chasing the authors of the publications. A suivre...
+It worth highlighting that the facts date back mid October 2019, while to court decision to refer to the ECJ has been made May 2021, one year and 7 months later. A suivre...
 == Further Resources ==