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Colombia’s Constitutional Court on Friday ordered Meta to change its privacy policies after ruling that it trampled the freedom of expression of a porn star by closing her Instagram account.
Esperanza Gomez, one of Colombia’s best-known adult content actresses, said she posted photographs of herself in her underwear as part of her job.
Gomez, who has over 5 million followers on Instagram, said Meta’s decision to close her account affected her ability to work and said she was given no clear explanation.
Meta, which owns Facebook and WhatsApp as well as Instagram, argued that Gomez violated the platform’s rules on nudity.
But the court ruled that it acted in an “arbitrary” fashion in closing her account and “illegitimately restricted her freedom of expression.”
Photo by Victor Chavez/WireImage via Getty Images
In its ruling, the court said that, while it recognized the social media platform’s need to moderate content, this did not justify closing a porn star’s account “without a clear and transparent justification,” according to BBC News.
It ruled that Meta “applied its policies on nudity and sexual services inconsistently,” noting that other accounts with similar content to Gomez’s remained active.
In a far-reaching ruling, the court ordered Meta to “review and adjust Instagram’s terms of use and privacy policy, so that users are clearly aware of the mechanisms for challenging moderation decisions.”
The ruling did not specify sanctions for non-compliance.
Meta did not immediately react to the decision.
This is not the first time that a South American court has required a social network to change its policies.
In June, Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled that social media were directly liable for illegal content, including hate speech, and must immediately act to remove it.
That ruling followed a judge ordering the suspension of dozens of X accounts for allegedly spreading disinformation, BBC News reported. It led to the social media platform briefly being banned in Brazil, before it began complying with the ruling and paid a $5.1 million fine, according to BBC News.
