03/02/2020 CG v Facebook Ireland Ltd & Anor [2016] NICA 54 (21 December 2016) [19] Facebook states that it is the world’'s largest social networking site with over 1.3 billion monthly active users worldwide in over 200 jurisdictions, who register an average of 350 million photographs a day and some 3 billion “"likes”" and comments. In its skeleton argument the first defendant asserted that “"with billions of posts, likes, photos, and comments added to Facebook daily, Facebook could not reasonably scour its site in hopes of finding content at issue – a true needle in a haystack.”" [20] The first defendant maintains ultimate control over everything that appears on its website and has the ability to remove anything that it wishes at any stage from any of the pages that have been created. In arriving at a decision as to whether to remove material the first defendant purports to apply the standards set out in its terms and conditions. The first defendant states that it can remove any content or information that is posted on Facebook if it believes that it violates its statement or its policies. The statement and policies declare that users:(a) will not bully, intimidate or harass any user. (b) will not post content that is hate speech, threatening, or … incites violence; or contains … graphic or gratuitous violence. (c) will not do anything unlawful, misleading, malicious or discriminatory. (d) will not post content or take any action on Facebook that infringes or violates someone else’'s rights or otherwise violates the law. The first defendant also asserts that it does not tolerate bullying or harassment and that whereas it will allow users to speak freely on matters and people of public interest, it will take action on all reports of abusive behaviour directed at private individuals. The first defendant goes on to assert that safety is Facebook’'s top priority. That it will remove content and may escalate to law enforcement when it perceives a genuine risk of physical harm, or a direct threat to public safety. That users may not credibly threaten others, or organise acts of, what it terms “"real world”" violence. [21] Every posting on Facebook has its own Uniform Resource Locator (“"URL”"). Accordingly an initial posting on any profile/page has one URL and then every comment posted under that initial posting has its own URL. If the main URL is taken down then every subsequent comment posted under it with all their unique URLs are also taken down. If the initial posting is not taken down it is possible to delete any of the individual comments posted under it.”" [5] Facebook operates a reporting system by which an individual can ask for postings to be removed. The system requires the individual to provide the first appellant with the URL for each and every posting about which complaint is made. To find the URL of a particular posting the person complaining has to go to the webpage concerned and to click on each posting to obtain the relevant URL. In circumstances where a website is attracting numerous comments, each of which has its own URL, additional offending material may have been generated by the time the initial complaint is made. The factual background to the three profile pages [6] In August 2012 McCloskey opened a Facebook page entitled ""Keeping Our Kids Safe from Predators"". He posted on the page the name and photograph of XY and referred to his previous criminal convictions. In 2005 XY had admitted six charges of indecent assault, six charges of gross indecency with a child and one of inciting a child to commit an act of gross indecency. The offences www.bailii.org/nie/cases/NICA/2016/54.html 3/21