Judge tells technology firms they acted in ‘bad faith’ when not removing or blocking ‘degrading photos’

This article is more than 5 years old

This article is more than 5 years old

Judges in Brazil have handed down a £10,000 fine to Facebook and Google for not removing or blocking “degrading photos”.

The ruling came after pictures of Brazilian musician Cristiano Araujo in a mortuary were shared online. The Brazilian singer, who was 29, died in a car crash in June alongside his girlfriend.

On Tuesday, Judge Denise Gondim de Medonca declared that Google and Facebook had acted in “bad faith” in ignoring an earlier ruling. Both companies were fined 50,000 Brazilian real (£10,000).

Judge William Fabian said in an earlier ruling on 25 June that the posting of gruesome images of Araujo’s death was “extremely disrespectful to the family’s feeling of sorrow”.

The following statement was provided to the Guardian by a Google spokesperson:

“The Marco Cilvil of the Internet (local law which regulates removals) requires that any court order for content removal specify the URLs to be removed.

“In parallel, we have already taken down many of the videos which have been flagged by users due to YouTube’s policies regarding offensive content.”

Google is appealing the ruling. Facebook has also been contacted for comment.