Facebook indicates difficulties complying with order sought by former FF TD alleging defamation

Facebook has told the High Court it would have difficulties complying with an order being sought by a former TD for intended defamation proceedings.

The order being sought by ex-Fianna Fáil TD Frank O’Rourke would require Facebook to provide details aimed at identifying the person behind an account which he claims was responsible for social media posts which allegedly defamed him.

Last month, Mr O’Rourke sought orders, known as Norwich Pharmacal orders, in separate actions against Twitter International Company and Facebook Ireland Ltd.

He wants details, including the account holders’ names and email and IP addresses. He previously secured the orders against Twitter but Facebook claims it would not be able to comply if a similar order is made against it.

Ms Justice Leonie Reynolds heard submissions on Tuesday from Rossa Fanning SC, for Facebook.

Counsel said his client needed certain technical information before it could comply with the orders sought. Facebook has not been provided with a Uniform Resource Locator (URL) or web address regarding an allegedly defamatory post made about the former TD on Facebook, he said.

Facebook requires the URL so it identify the alleged poster and comply with orders concerning the account, he said

Another difficulty was that the account holder who allegedly defamed Mr O’Rourke has a very common name, he said.

Facebook is concerned about the legal repercussions of handing over information to the ex-TD’s lawyers on what might turn out to be the wrong account.

Mr Fanning said Facebook usually takes a neutral view on such applications, and complies with court orders and could comply with certain reliefs sought by Mr O’Rourke.

Mr O’Rourke had waited till last month to seek orders against Facebook over comments posted in February which had most likely been deleted, he added.

Facebook is different from Twitter as each twitter account has a unique “handle” and it is much easier to identify individual account holders, he said.

Declan Doyle SC, for Mr O’Rourke, said his client was not happy with Facebook’s response and the sides, unlike in the proceedings involving Twitter, had not been able to reach an agreement.

Counsel said very little detail regarding steps Facebook has taken regarding the account at issue were included in a sworn statement by Facebook’s lawyers to the court.

It appeared Facebook was “shrugging its shoulders” regarding his client’s application because it does not have details including a URL.

The judge said Facebook should provide a sworn statement setting out its efforts in regard to the information about the account holder at issue.

She adjourned the matter to next month.

Mr O’ Rourke claims “wholly untrue” statements posted about him on social media last February were designed “to cause maximum professional damage to me” in the 2020 general election, at a time when he was going through “a difficult marriage breakdown”.

He claims members of the public told him they had seen “horrible stuff” about him on social media and his political supporters received “negative feedback on the doorsteps of North Kildare” following publication of the comments.

He also alleges untrue posts were made on Facebook pages associated with the Celbridge area about his family life and his personal financial matters and were designed to show he was unfit to serve in Dáil Éireann.

He further claims a tweet was put out shortly before the election which called on people not to vote for him and contained untrue and defamatory statements about his personal life.

Mr O’Rourke, of Dublin Road, Celbridge, was elected as a FF TD for North Kildare in 2016. He lost his seat last February.