OTTAWA – The Supreme Court of Canada has struck down The Halifax Herald and Global Television’s bid to identify a Nova Scotia girl who is now free to pursue her court battle against a cyberbully. The ruling overturned two lower court decisions that refused to ban publication of the girl’s name. The decision was a setback to a coalition of media groups that had fought in court to have the girl’s name revealed.
The case revolves around a 15-?year-old girl (17 now), identified as A.B., who discovered that someone had posted a fake Facebook profile using her picture, a slightly altered version of her name, and other identifying particulars. The picture was accompanied by insulting comments on her appearance and included sexually explicit references.
A judge agreed to A.B.'s request for a court order compelling internet service provider, Eastlink, to identify the owner of the IP address, but not until A.B. and her father agreed to identify themselves in the order. A Court of Appeal later upheld the judge's ruling.
But the Supreme Court, in a unanimous ruling last week, overturned the decisions and granted A.B. the right to pursue the case using only her initials, but it denied the request to ban details of the Facebook page.
Madam Justice Rosalie Abella ruled that the need to protect victims of cyberbullying, and to encourage future victims of bullying to come forward outweighed the media’s need to identify her.
The media group’s lawyer’s contended that press rights can only be limited when there is tangible evidence that permitting publication could cause serious harm.
“Stories about real, identified people carry more meaning for, and resonate more, with readers, listeners and viewers than stories about unidentified people,” argued lawyers of the media group. “Decisions dealing with real people can make the justice system seem understandable and accessible.”
But Judge Abella countered that “Since common sense and the evidence show that young victims of sexualized bullying are particularly vulnerable to the harms of revictimization upon publication, and since the right to protection will disappear for most children without the further protection of anonymity, the girl’s anonymous legal pursuit of the identity of her cyberbully should be allowed.”
In her ruling she noted the Nova Scotia Task Force on Bullying and Cyberbullying report that confirmed that allowing the names of child victims and other identifying information to appear in the media can exacerbate trauma, complicate recovery, discourage future disclosures, and inhibit cooperation with authorities.
The court did rule that the fake Facebook profile can be published provided it does not identify her.
