August 15, 2013 (TSR) – An 18-year-old man from the Baltic island of Gotland has been convicted after sending a friend request on Facebook.
The teen was fined the equivalent of 30-days pay and handed a suspended sentence by the Gotland District Court, which ruled that a friend request on the popular social networking site constituted a violation of a restraining order preventing him from contacting the person, Sveriges Radio (SR) reported.
In its ruling, the court found that “a friend request represents an active choice with the aim of making contact. That can’t be seen as a minor violation”.
However, the court didn’t see the attempt at making contact via Facebook as a violation that warranted the awarding of damages.
In addition to contacting the person via Facebook, the 18-year-old also ran into the person at a street fair.
The man sent the Facebook friend request shortly after a restraining order against him had been renewed.
The man also has a previous conviction for sexually assaulting a woman.
Source: thelocal.se
