A JILTED boyfriend who put nude pictures of his former lover on Facebook has been sentenced to six months jail - a landmark social media-related conviction for Australia and one of just a handful in the world.
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Ravshan ''Ronnie'' Usmanov told police: ''I put the photos up because she hurt me and it was the only thing [I had] to hurt her.''
The six pictures, according to court documents, showed his ex-girlfriend ''nude in certain positions and clearly showing her breasts and genitalia''.
Shortly after posting the pictures on his Facebook page in October last year, Usmanov emailed his girlfriend with the message: ''Some of your photos are now on Facebook.'' She had ended their relationship less than three months before.
The woman, who The Sunday Age has chosen not to identify, ran to Usmanov's inner-Sydney flat demanding he take the pictures down. When he refused, she called the police.
Privacy experts say Usmanov's case has exposed the ''tip of the iceberg'' of online offences that are rarely punished.
In sentencing the 20-year-old, NSW Deputy-Chief Magistrate Jane Mottley said she was ''deterring both the offender and the community generally from committing similar crimes''.
''New-age technology through Facebook gives instant access to the world … Incalculable damage can be done to a person's reputation by the irresponsible posting of information through that medium. With its popularity and potential for real harm, there is a genuine need to ensure the use of this medium to commit offences of this type is deterred,'' Ms Mottley said.
The court could cite just one other relevant case in which a 20-year-old New Zealand man was sentenced to four months' jail in 2010 for posting nude pictures of his ex-girlfriend on Facebook.
David Vaile, executive director of the cyberspace law and policy centre at the University of NSW, said crimes of harassment when conducted online were not taken as seriously as physical offences.
''In a sense this is the tip of the iceberg. There are very few convictions under harassment and indecent publication,'' he said.
Privacy expert Alec Christie said current laws were insufficient and that the federal government review of privacy stemming from the Australian Law Reform Commission report, should include online measures.
