Facebook condemned in court for offensive posts about murdered French-Irish girl
The High Court in Ireland on Wednesday announced a settlement in the case in which the parents of murdered French-Irish teenager, Nora Quorin, sued the social platform Facebook for carrying disturbing and offensive allegations about the dead girl.
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The settlement came as the High Court in Dublin was told defamation proceedings taken by Nóra’s Belfast-born mother Meabh and French father Sebastien against retired solicitor Anne Brennan and Facebook had been settled.
The details of the case are to remain confidential.
Agreeing a settlement, Facebook, the social media platform which now trades as Meta, apologised in the High Court in Dublin for allegations made by a user of the site.
Expressing sympathy for the family of the dead girl, whose mother and father were in court to hear the announcement, a lawyer for Facebook/Meta accepted that the platform had been used to carry "disturbing and offensive" allegations about Nora and the search for her, causing distress and trauma to the family.
The Facebook user who was the alleged author of the remarks, and was also sued by the Quorin family, was not present in court.
Nora Quorin was 15 years old when she went missing while on holiday with her parents in Malaysia in August 2019.
After a 10-day search, the girl's body was found not far from the bungalow she had been occupying with her mother and father.
Allegations continued after body discovered
Sebastien and Maebh Quorin took legal action against Facebook and a user of the site after a series of allegations appeared on the site while the search for the girl continued, and even after the discovery of her body.
The lawyer representing Facebook made the following statement to the court:
“Meta Platforms Ireland Limited appreciates that the user’s allegations were distressing to the Quoirin family and takes this opportunity to express its sympathy for the distress and trauma arising from that user’s allegations.
“Meta Platforms Ireland Limited will continue its efforts in preventing the misuse of its platform and ensuring the safety of its users.”
Mr Justice David Barniville expressed his sympathies to the family as he struck out proceedings in the matter.
Outside the court, Maebh Quorin said the outcome represented "the end of another chapter in the quest for truth.
“We are satisfied this matter is now concluded. We will continue our efforts in Malaysia in order to bring justice for our beloved Nora,” she said.
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