$35,000 Awarded to B.C. Man After Ex-Girlfriend Posted Intimate Images

A British Columbia man was awarded $35,000 in damages after his ex-girlfriend posted intimate images of him on social media in what a tribunal described as a targeted campaign to harass and torment him. The dispute, adjudicated by the Civil Resolution Tribunal, centers on a four-year relationship that ended and subsequently devolved into online harassment utilizing fake social media accounts. Tribunal member Jeffrey Drozdiak ruled that the respondent, anonymized as SS, must pay $30,000 in compensatory damages and $5,000 in aggravated damages to the applicant, BW. In addition to the monetary penalties, SS was ordered to pay $444.20 to cover the costs of hiring a process server after she repeatedly evaded being served with the tribunal dispute notices. Typically, applicants to the Civil Resolution Tribunal must bring claims within two years of an incident. However, Drozdiak determined that an image shared online creates fresh damage every day it remains accessible, effectively resetting the limitation period daily until the content is removed.

Tribunal Findings on Intimate Images and Protection Order Breaches

The tribunal previously established that eight of the contested images met the legal definition of intimate, all showing the man’s face and some displaying his genitals. Drozdiak found that SS breached a prior protection order 14 times between March and September of this year by continuing to share the images across various fake accounts designed to impersonate BW and his acquaintances.

Under British Columbia’s Intimate Images Protection Act, sharing such content is illegal and actionable without requiring proof of actual economic or psychological damage. Nevertheless, the tribunal accepted BW’s submission that the distribution of the photographs was ruining his life and his business. Evidence presented to the tribunal showed that SS sent two images directly to BW’s current partner accompanied by threats to break them up, and used a fake account featuring a naked image of him as a profile picture to leave laughing reactions on his business social media posts.

Legal Precedent Set for Online Harassment Limitation Periods

Because the harm persists as long as the digital file remains online, the tribunal held that applicants can claim damages for any fresh damage occurring within the two-year period immediately preceding the start of their claim. Drozdiak highlighted the respondent’s complete disregard for the legal process as a major aggravating factor in elevating the damages award. The decision noted that SS treated the tribunal proceedings as a joke while displaying an ongoing, intentional motivation of revenge following the dissolution of their four-year relationship. SS was previously ordered to destroy all copies of the intimate images and make every reasonable effort to render them unavailable to the public.