Esperanza Gómez wins legal battle against Meta for deleting her account

Colombia's Constitutional Court ordered Meta to modify its privacy policies on Friday, after ruling in favor of porn actress Esperanza Gómez in a lawsuit against the company for violating her right to freedom of expression.

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Gómez, one of the most recognized figures in adult entertainment in the country , filed a legal action after her Instagram account was closed "without a transparent and clear justification," the court said in a statement. The actress argued that the underwear images she posted were part of her work activity, and therefore her right to work was also affected. Meta, the parent company of Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, alleged that Gómez violated the platform's rules regarding nudity, where she had more than five million followers. However, the Court ruled that the account closure was an "arbitrary" decision that unlawfully restricted her freedom of expression, and warned that the company inconsistently applied its rules compared to other accounts with similar content that remain active.

In an unprecedented ruling in the country, the court ordered Meta to review and adjust Instagram's terms of use and privacy policy so that users are clear about the mechanisms available to challenge moderation decisions. It also ordered that the policies be published in Spanish and that a visible electronic channel be enabled for judges and courts to send judicial notifications in Colombia.

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The ruling does not establish specific sanctions for non-compliance, and Meta has not yet issued a statement.

There are few precedents of this type in the region. One of the most recent occurred in June, when the Brazilian Supreme Court strengthened the obligations of digital platforms regarding content published by their users, in a pioneering case in Latin America against the spread of fake news and hate speech online.

AFP