Facebook Argentina Fined Over Fake Profiles

Facebook Argentina was ordered to pay a fire-fighter ARS 1 million ($177,000, roughly Rs. 1 crore) for failing to comply with an order to delete insulting fake profiles of the plaintiff, the Ministry of Justice said Tuesday.

The plaintiff, whose identity was not disclosed, called on the social network for over a year to delete fake profiles by people who wrote insults related to a labour dispute.

On Tuesday, judge Carlos Cadierno ordered the fire-fighter be compensated and the company to pay a ARS 50,000 ($5,900, roughly Rs. 3,59,000) per month penalty.

The case began in April, 2013 and initially the plaintiff did not ask for compensation, the ministry of justice's news agency said.

According to the plaintiffs' counsel, Facebook made "excuses" for why it didn't need to unsubscribe users who attacked his client online.

Notification of the court decision was sent to the social network's offices in Argentina and in the United States, the plaintiffs' lawyers said.

The judge issued the first favourable ruling for the fire-fighter a year ago, but to date the profiles are still active.

Contacted in Buenos Aires, Facebook Argentina declined to comment.

In Argentina, Facebook has 23 million active users per month, and about 1.2 billion active monthly users worldwide.