Georgia Court of Appeals: Parents Can be Held Liable for Kids' Social Media Misdeeds

The parents of two Cobb County middle school students who set up a fake Facebook account to smear one of their classmates in 2011 can be sued by the victim’s parents, the Georgia Court of Appeals ruled last week.

According to the Marietta Daily Journal, Alex Boston was the victim of a phony Facebook account created in her name by Dustin Athearn and Melissa Snodgrass, who all attended the same homeroom at Palmer Elementary School in Kennesaw.

The fake account depicted Boston as a drug user, a racist, and a homosexual, and used a manipulated image of the young woman to make her appear fat. ”Boston” posted several offensive statuses and made friends with some 70 other Facebook users, the MDJ says.

Boston discovered who was running the fake Facebook account, and Athearn and Snodgrass were suspended from school and received punishment from their parents. However, the Facebook account remained active and accepted friend requests up until a lawsuit was filed in 2012.

Athearn’s parents can be held liable by Boston’s parents because they never took any action to remove or delete the fake Facebook account in the 11 months after they first punished their son, Judge P.J. Ellington ruled on Friday. Snodgrass’ parents never responded to the Boston’s suit and have been found in default.