Parents May Be Liable for Not Requiring Child to Cancel Fake Facebook Account

In Boston et al. v. Athearn et al., Case No. A14A0971 (Ga. Ct. App., order entered October 10, 2014), the Georgia Court of Appeals reversed a trial court’s grant of summary judgment and ruled that a couple may be held liable for not requiring their minor child to cancel a fake Facebook account after they learned about it. Their child had created an account using a classmate’s name, which included an altered photo and sexual, racist, and otherwise offensive postings. He then invited his classmate’s teachers, family members, and other students to “friend” the account. The victim’s parents sued the child and child’s parents for libel and intentional infliction of emotional distress, claiming the parents breached a duty to supervise their child’s use of a computer and Internet account. The appellate court ruled that the parents may be held directly liable for their own negligence in failing to supervise or control their child in a matter involving conduct that posed an unreasonable risk of harm to others.