Par Julien Bottler
Published on
Snapchat is not a lawless zone. This is the message conveyed by the forces of policefaced with the proliferation of Snapchat accounts broadcasting intimate photos of teenagers without their knowledge. The phenomenon particularly affects Evreux (Eure), Rouen and more recently Le Havre (Seine Maritime).
“My daughter talks to me about suicide”
In Le Havre, for example, a 14-year-old girl saw an intimate snapshot of her circulating on Snapchat, Thursday, May 24, 2018, on the “Dingri Lehavre” account. He prides himself on “denouncing all the nudes (sic) of Le Havre”.
What looks like a simple joke to teenagers has serious consequences. Jean*, the father of the 14-year-old girl, “completely hallucinates. How can this happen to us? “. The man is in shock:
My daughter is devastated, she talks to me about suicide. I’m ashamed to go out.
However, Jean will not remain inactive and plans to file a complaint and wants to warn the families of Le Havre. “We are going to go around the neighborhood, warn the parents. We can’t let that pass. »
In the meantime, on the evening of May 24, “Dingri Lehavre” delivered a new burst of erotic and even pornographic photos and videos of young girls (and some boys), sometimes mentioning their names or addresses. In one day, more than sixty photos were sent to the social network.
The next day, the person who manages “Dingri Lehavre” and claims to be a minor, announced via a new “snap” that she was going to close her account.
Three complaints in Rouen…
In Rouen, at least three complaints have been filed for similar facts involving young underage girls, in particular on an account called ” Afficheboy_766 “. An investigation has been opened and is being conducted by the Departmental Security. “We take the case very seriously”, assures a judicial source who promises:
We will really do what is necessary to find the person or people behind these accounts and those who feed them by sending the photos.
… and one in Évreux
In Évreux, an investigation is also openafter the complaint of a head of school, to identify the author of the account “No Peine 27”, which disseminated the same type of content.
Éric Neveu, deputy public prosecutor in Évreux, explained to our colleagues fromyour infothe difficulty of this kind of file:
It is necessary to establish and qualify the facts, at least an invasion of privacy or an incitement of a minor to debauchery, which are crimes. The thing is complicated insofar as Snapchat does not respond to the injunctions of French justice.
60,000 euros fine, two years in prison
Despite the feeling of impunity that the authors of these accounts seem to enjoy, the law condemns these practices that can be assimilated to “revenge porn”.
Articles 226-1 to 226-8 of the Civil Code indicate that “every individual has a right to respect for his private life, as well as a right to his image”. Thus, the publication or reproduction of an image (photo or video) on which a person is recognizable, is only authorized with his consent, whether the image in question is harmful or not.
In addition, the law for a digital Republic added in 2016 a new article, 226-2-1, in the Penal Code. The latter increases the penalties incurred to 60,000 euros in fines and two years’ imprisonment. The text also introduced into the law the compulsory agreement of the person in the dissemination of a photo or recording of a sexual nature.
*Name has been changed
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