potential exposure to reputational and psychological harm
In December 2013, a judge from Belo Horizonte preemptively banned the provision of the app Tubby, which would allow men to rate the sexual performance of women and was allegedly soon to be released. The block has never been implemented, because the app has never been created.
BLOCKING ORDER
- Judicial Body
- 15th Court of Crimes Against the Women of Belo Horizonte
- Judge
- Rinaldo Kennedy Silva
- Date of Decision
- December 4th 2013
- Type of Block
- Indefinite period
- Authors of the request
- Seven feminist movements: Frente de Mulheres das Brigadas Populares de Minas Gerais, Margarida Alves, Movimento Graal no Brasil, Marcha Mundial das Mulheres, Movimento Mulheres em Luta, Marcha das Vadias e Coletivo Mineiro Popular Anarquista (Compa)
- Case Number
- 3846204-55.2013.8.13.0024
IMPLEMENTATION
OF THE BLOCK
- Agents
- Facebook, the team responsible for Tubby
- Addressee
- N/A [block not implemented]
- Starting date
- N/A [block not implemented]
ORDER LIFTING
THE BLOCK
- Judicial Body
- N/A
- Judge
- N/A
- Date of Decision
- N/A
- Case Number
- N/A
CASE ANALYSIS
Facts
Tubby was thought a response to Lulu, an app created for women to anonymously rate men in their circle of Facebook friends. Tubby would be a similar apps, in which men would give grades to women, but with a more sexual connotation. Its slogan would be “Your turn to find out if she’s good in bed”.
The announcement of the creation of the app generated the revolt of diverse feminist groups, making seven movements filing a preliminary injunction block to the access and installation of the app: Frente de Mulheres das Brigadas Populares de Minas Gerais, Margarida Alves, Movimento Graal no Brasil, Marcha Mundial das Mulheres, Movimento Mulheres em Luta, Marcha das Vadias and Coletivo Mineiro Popular Anarquista (Compa).
Procedural History
Judge Rinaldo Kennedy Silva, of the 15th Court of Crimes Against the Women of Belo Horizonte granted the preliminary injunction even before the app was released. According to what was published in the press, he defined the block of access and installation of the app within 5 days following the notification by Justice of the companies Facebook, Tubby, Google and Apple app stores (Google Play and App Store), under daily fine of R$10.000.
Legal Grounds
The decision is under secrecy and, therefore, inaccessible to the public. According to what was published in the press, the judge argued in his decision that the app exposes women to damages to the honor and psychological violence, when basing the evaluations on their sexual performance. Considering the impossibility of repairing the honor of a woman violated by the use of the app, the preventive character of the Maria da Penha Law was invoked, justifying the block even before the app was released.
Outcome
In an interview after the decision, the founders of Tubby declared that the app did not have the intention of being created. Its announcement in the media and the creation of a portal on the Internet only aimed to raise the debate on the violation of privacy, especially in response to the violations of privacy of male users with the Lulu app.