• On Wednesday evening, an 8-year-old girl was abducted from her home in Dunkirk (North). She was finally found with her father in Italy on Thursday.
  • The same day, a kidnapping alert was issued, then lifted around noon. But netizens continued to share the child's identity, as well as the child's photo.
  • The Ministry of Justice stresses here the importance of the "right to be forgotten" and has called users to order on Twitter.

It's 10:14 a.m. on Thursday and Sarah* receives a message from one of her friends. She asks him to share the kidnapping alert of an 8-year-old girl, abducted by her father. The night before, in Dunkirk (North), she disappeared and her mother was found dead. Sarah* complies, and as agreed publishes the abduction alert on her Instagram story. After all it only takes a few seconds and it's always won.

Finally, two hours later, the Alert-Abduction procedure triggered Wednesday evening is lifted but the child is still wanted. Is there yet another question in Sarah*'s head: If the wanted notice is lifted, should we delete all shares on social networks?

"An action that is not in the interest of the victim"

It is important to contact that, this Thursday, the authorities and some Internet users did not seem to agree on this issue. On Twitter, for example, shares continue even though the authorities have deleted the post on their own. "They raised the alert, but we're not going to stop sharing. Please share share! " reads a tweet accompanied by the photo of the girl and a description. "We ask you to retweet as much as possible the tweets mentioning this abduction to give this little girl every chance to be found!" asks another around 16 p.m., four hours after the alert was lifted.


đŸ”” By decision of the Douai prosecutor's office, the kidnapping alert was terminated. The child has not been found. Research is ongoing.
Photos should no longer be diffusées@Interieur_Gouv, @PoliceNationale, @Gendarmerie

— Department of Justice (@justice_gouv) June 8, 2023

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But very quickly, the Ministry of Justice counterattacked. Under numerous publications relaying the abduction alert, the institution's Twitter account replied: "For the right to child protection and the right to be forgotten, please remove all publications". On its website, the Ministry of Justice specifies that the action of sharing a kidnapping alert is "commendable", but "in the long term, this action is not always in the interest of the victim". "After the end of the alert, this data usually remains stored on websites or referenced in search engines," the ministry said.

In addition, the ministry explains that it is its duty to "control the images and personal data that will be disseminated to the population". "In particular, it must be able to stop the dissemination of such material. After the end of the alert, the entities that continue the dissemination assume sole editorial responsibility, "explains the site the Ministry of Justice.

Several relays solicited

Since 2006, the year of the creation of the "Abduction Alert" system, there has been a convention specifying its rules, particularly on digital technology. It details, for example, the bodies requested by the judicial authority. These include news agencies, television channels, radio stations, victims' and victims' associations, road network managers and transport companies.

"The alert ends three hours after the designated agencies have been notified of the triggering of the alert, even if the victim and suspect have not been located," Article 10 states.

Favor the publication of authorities

On social networks, Internet users can share alerts to increase the chances of finding the missing child. Several details are available: the date and place of the abduction, the description of the car and the number of the license plate, a photograph of the victim, as well as that of the suspect. But once the alert is lifted, this information can no longer appear online... always respecting the right to be forgotten. We must therefore be careful how we share these alerts.

Finally, the best practice would be to relay directly the publication of the authorities, or a news agency. When the alert is lifted, the photograph and identity of the girl will disappear simultaneously. If it is a photo published directly from your account, then you will have to make sure yourself of the quick deletion post-alert.

*first name has been changed

  • Tech
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  • Right to be forgotten
  • Abduction alert
  • Twitter
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