Recently, the French Government passed a law which could enable children to sue their parents for uploading their baby photos on Facebook. How did this law come about?
According to experts, parents who upload pictures of their children on social media are “publicising their private lives without their consent or permission.”
Parents who do this might be liable for a fine of £ 35,000 (or approximately ₹ 33.6 lakhs). Recently, concerns for children’s safety has been high, and the French Gendarmerie, the military unit which is assigned police duties, said, “Please stop posting pictures of your kids on Facebook. Remember that posting pictures of your children on Facebook is not safe. It is important to protect the privacy of minors and their images on social networking sites.”
This comes from a survey conducted to ask parents and children about their views of posting pictures online – and the results are astounding.
The 2015 survey for social media awareness conducted by the University of Michigan showed that 74% of participants claimed they were concerned about posting photographs online, but did it anyway after looking at others doing the same. What is more shocking is that 51% of parents also put up a lot of personal information along with the photos, which would be very unsafe (because it would be easy to track the child’s location).
News source: Daily Mail
This is not all. Here are some of the most bizarre, stupid, and weird lawsuits that people have filed.
1. Batman vs. Batman
A city in south eastern Turkey is named Batman. No prizes for guessing, the mayor of the city sued Christopher Nolan and Warner Bros. for using the name Batman without his permission. According to him, “There is only one Batman,” and he demanded that the city be paid royalties and damages for ‘psychological effects’ caused by the film.
2. Stacy Pincus vs. Starbucks
In 2016, a woman got fed up over her local Starbucks serving an unusual amount of ice in her cold beverage, and decided to sue them. According to the official complaint filed by her, she alleged that, “Starbucks has engaged in the practice of misrepresenting the amount of Cold Drink a customer will receive. As a result of this practice, Starbucks’ Cold Drinks contain significantly less product than advertised, by design and corporate practice and procedure.”
3. Wanita Young vs. Two girls delivering free cookies
In 2004, two teenage girls decided to do something nice for their neighbourhood. So they made cookies and went around delivering small packets of them to their neighbours. When they came to 49-year-old Wanita Young’s house, their knocking on her door caused her to suffer a severe anxiety attack. After the police was called and the matter solved, she still sued them for $ 900… and actually won!
4. Karl Kemp vs. The homeless
An antiques dealer in the Manhattan area of New York, Karl Kemp, was fed up with the homeless camping out outside his store. He claimed that they are disrupting his business and scaring away his customers, and hence, sued them for $ 1 million! Mr. Kemp also went as far as to order a restraining order to put on the homeless so they stay 100 feet away from the store.
5. And the most notorious of all: Stella Liebeck vs. McDonald’s
Way back in 1992, Stella Liebeck ordered for hot coffee to go from her local McDonald’s. In her car (which was being driven by her son), she opened the cup and balanced it between her knees, so that she could pour cream and sugar in it. The coffee ended up spilling on her lap, causing her severe burns, which ultimately resulted in her receiving skin grafts and other treatments for over two years. Even though coffee is supposed to be served in the range of 180° to 190° F (82° to 87° C), Stella was paid $ 2.9 million in damages!
Stella Liebeck’s lawsuit became gained such fame and notoreity, that crazy lawsuits like these that followed entered into an internet awards feature called The Stella Awards.
These and many other cases and lawsuits filed all over the world only go on to show that some people will go to any lengths for cheap publicity and a quick buck. But more than that, it makes us fear that…
We may have failed as a species! 🙁