An Italian woman has been banned from posting images of her teenage son on social media, and threatened with a 10,000 Euros fine if she defies it.
The 16-year-old had made a court complaint about his mother's social media habits, which included posting pictures of him on Facebook without his consent.
A Rome family court dealing with the mother's divorce from the teen's father, ruled in the 16-year-old's favour.
The teenager had grown tired of his mother's oversharing online and the issue was brought up during divorce proceedings.
The court ruled that as per Italian copyright law, the subject of the photographs owns the copyright and the mother was therefore in breach.
The mother has been order to stop posting updates, photos or videos of her 16 year-old son and to delete all data on him from her social media accounts by February 1, 2018. Failure to comply with the judge's ruling will result in a 10,000 Euro fine.
The Italian judge said that the teen requests that he be transferred to a school in the US, in order for him to 'stay away from the current social context, in which all of his fellow high-school students are aware of his personal details, made known by his mother with constant and systematic use of social networks'.
Lawyer Giuseppe Croari told Euronews that the mother had violated Facebook's terms and conditions by posting her son's pictures and effectively claiming copyright over his data. Italian copyright law clearly states that the subject of the photo owns the copyright, and express permission is required before it can be published on social media.
