Teenager sues mother for harassing him on Facebook

LONDON/WASHINGTON - A teenager in the US has taken his mother to court for going through his Facebook page and reading his private life, a media report said Friday.

Denise New has been charged with harassment after her 16-year-old son said he wanted criminal charges filed against her for “snooping”, Daily Mail reported.

The teenager, Lane, claims his mother changed his password on his Facebook account, posted comments and changed the password to his email so he can no longer receive updates to his page.

He made the complaint with prosecutors in Arkansas.

The row began after Lane accidentally left his computer on while visiting his mother at her home in Arkadelphia town.

The mother became concerned about several entries, which bothered her so much that she decided to change the password.

She said she was performing her parental duties.

“You’re within your legal rights to monitor your child and to have a conversation with your child on Facebook whether it’s his account, or your account or whoever’s account.

“I read things on his Facebook about how he had gone to Hot Springs one night and was driving 95 m.p.h. home because he was upset with a girl and it was his friend that called me and told me about all this. That prompted me to even actually start really going through his Facebook to see what was going on,” she was quoted as saying.

Lane, in his criminal complaint, however, wrote: “Denise first hacked my Facebook and changed my password. She also changed the password to my e-mail so I could not change it. She posted things that involve slander and personal facts about my life.”