Online dating site faces legal threat after using image of deceased Rehtaeh Parsons

The inclusion of a picture of deceased Rehtaeh Parsons in an advertisement for an online dating site was so abusive and obscene that it received a universally harsh and immediate rebuke the moment it was noticed this week.

The revelation was made Tuesday evening that a Facebook advertiser was using the girl's image to promote online dating. The ad read, "Find Love in Canada! Meet Canadian girls and women for friendship, dating or relationships."

Parsons died following a suicide attempt, which followed what her family says was months of taunting an online bulling over images taken during a sexual assault.

Two young men face child pornography charges stemming from those images.

So, no points were awarded for class. Further, Facebook pulled the ad from its site and announced that had banned the dating site from advertising on the social network.

[ Related: Facebook sorry for ad featuring photo of Rehtaeh Parsons ]

By now, most Facebook users are aware that photos or other data posted to the site can be repurposed. But Facebook says the advertiser broke company policy when it used images of the deceased teen.

Facebook uses a system of "social context" advertising, which uses a profile's posted photos in advertisements targeting friends and contacts. But this was not what happened in this case.

The dating site, Ionechat.com, was an outside advertiser.

"This is an extremely unfortunate example of an advertiser scraping an image from the Internet and using it in their ad campaign," a statement reads. "This is a gross violation of our ad policies and we have removed the ad and permanently deleted the advertiser's account. We apologize for any harm this has caused."

[ More Brew: Can Canada’s child-protection systems be fixed? ]

Not only that, but the Toronto Star reports the company faces a potential lawsuit from another dating site.

The Luxemburg-based company be2 is threatening legal action against Ionechat.com, which appears to rely on be2's Canadian dating service.

“It was utterly inappropriate for Ionechat.com to use Rehtaeh Parsons's image in this way and our sympathies go out to her family and friends and the many Canadians who must have been distressed by seeing the advertisement,” a be2 spokesperson told the Star.

Ionechat.com appears to have disappeared since the controversy erupted. Which should be seen as a good sign. When a company acts in such a disgusting manner, it shouldn’t be up to the public, and a deceased girl’s grieving family, to express outrage.

Those who the company relies on should stand up as well. In this case, they did.