Facebook failed to stop a child bride being auctioned on its platform

Facebook failed to prevent its platform being used to auction a 16-year-old girl off for marriage in South Sudan. Child early and forced marriage (CEFM) is the most commonly reported form of gender-based violence in South Sudan, according to a recent Plan International report on the myriad risks for adolescent girls living in the war-torn region. Vice reported on the story in detail yesterday, noting that Facebook took down the auction post but not until after the girl had already been married off -- and more than two weeks after the family first announced the attention to sell the child via its platform, on October 25.