Facebook should have removed a sex video of a woman who later committed suicide, with or without a court order, judges in Italy have ruled.

The tape of Tiziana Cantone, who killed herself in September, was uploaded last year without her consent. The 31-year-old made the explicit video with her new partner and then sent it to her ex-boyfriend.
It later went viral after being posted on Facebook and other social media sites, prompting a tide of online abuse.

While Facebook said it accepted the ruling of the Naples court, it is thought the judgement could open the door to a wave of further legal action, notably criminal proceedings against Facebook users who shared the video.

The case in Italy comes as German prosecutors in Munich also investigate the social media giant’s chief Mark Zuckerberg and other senior executives for breaking hate speech laws by failing to remove racist posts.

The firm’s rules forbid bullying and the use of threatening language, but critics in Germany say it has not done enough to enforce them.