Facebook users angered by images of bullying victim used for dating site
Posted September 17, 2013 11:44 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Twitter has exploded with angry reaction after Facebook ads for an online dating site featured images of bullying victim Rehtaeh Parsons.
Parsons, 17, died earlier this year after being taken off life support following a suicide attempt. The Halifax teen had been bullied for months after an alleged sexual assault.
Canadian Facebook users noticed the photos of the teen on Tuesday, in ads that link users to iOnechat.com, an online matchmaking service based in Europe.
The ad featured a photo of Parsons under the heading “Find love in Canada! Meet Canadian girls and women for friendship, dating or relationships.”
A copywriter in Toronto alerted Facebook to the ad when he spotted it on his page around 3:30 p.m.
Social media users who viewed the images describe them as being in “supreme poor taste” and possibly the most offensive advertisement they had ever seen.
Facebook has since removed the ads, and a spokesperson for the social network tells 680News this case is a gross violation of Facebook’s advertising policies.
The spokesperson added that the advertiser’s account has been permanently deleted.
