(OSV News) — A former campus residence rector at the University of Notre Dame has won a court order to subpoena social media giant Meta to identify those behind anonymous Instagram posts accusing her of sexual assault.
Elizabeth Greenop can now demand that Meta, the parent company of Instagram, provide “documents and records sufficient to identify” the individuals behind both the allegations and the Instagram account that published the claims.
The Oct. 9 order was signed by Judge Mark P. Telloyan of St. Joseph County, Indiana, Superior Court, where Greenop had filed a civil suit in August.
The lawsuit asserts the graphic accusations, posted in June and July to shareyourstory.notredame — an Instagram account not affiliated with the university — constitute both defamation and a false-light invasion of privacy, a charge similar to defamation.
As-yet unspecified compensatory, punitive damages
The suit also seeks as-yet unspecified compensatory and punitive damages, legal fees and other relief as well as a jury trial.
Following professional news standards, OSV News did not disclose Greenop’s name in its previous coverage of the matter due to the uncorroborated nature of the anonymous, social media-based allegations.
As a result of the legal filing, Greenop’s name and association with the matter has become public record, with the case and its documents discoverable online.
An investigation has not yet determined the credibility of the allegations, nor has Greenop been charged with a crime. The lawsuit denies all of the allegations.
Telloyan said in his Oct. 9 order that Greenop could request names, postal and email addresses, and telephone numbers “associated with the Account and with the submitting users.”
Allowed to ask for devices’ IP addresses, numerical identifiers
In addition, she can ask for the IP, or internet protocol, addresses — numerical identifiers for device connections to a network — and session logs relating to the Instagram account creation and logins, as well as the submission of the posts.
The order further provides for requesting “any source-of-payment records” for the account, any device identifiers associated with the account or “submitting users,” and “any other non-content subscriber or transactional records sufficient to identify the Account operator(s) or the submitting users.”
Greenop has 30 days from the issuance of the Oct. 9 order to serve her request upon Meta, which must then “immediately preserve all records” relevant to the order “pending further order of this Court,” said Telloyan.
Meta must also notify the account holders and submitters within seven days of receiving the subpoena. Those individuals will then have 21 days from that time to respond, with the court order noting they can do so “without disclosing his or her identity of record.”
The order does not specify any action against Google, whose Forms app is the primary means by which complaints are submitted to the shareyourstory.notredame Instagram account. Submissions are “strictly anonymous,” with no emails or identifying information collected, according to the form. OSV News is awaiting a response to its request for comment from Greenop’s attorney, Michael P. Smyth, regarding the matter.
Gina Christian is a multimedia reporter for OSV News. Follow her on X @GinaJesseReina.
