Facebook is under fire after it was used to auction off a child bride from South Sudan, who was reportedly sold for 500 cows, three cars and $10,000.
It took the social network almost two weeks to remove the post that advertised the auction of the 16-year-old girl.
Human rights group Plan International says it is "beyond belief" that a girl could be sold on the world's biggest social networking site.
“This barbaric use of technology is reminiscent of latter-day slave markets," said George Otim, Country Director of Plan International South Sudan.
“Plan International is calling on the South Sudanese government to investigate this matter and suspend any officials who took part in the bidding.
"We would encourage any girls who find themselves in similar situations of forced and early marriages to report these to the police," said Mr Otim.
According to Plan, five men participated in the auction, some of whom are reportedly high-ranking government officials.
Facebook says the post was removed as soon as the company learned of it but that only came after the girl was already married.
The girl was married off to the winning bidder, reportedly three times her age, at a ceremony on 3 November in the country’s Eastern Lakes State.
Facebook says the post was removed as soon as the company learned of it but that only came after the girl was already married.
Human rights lawyer Philips Anyang Ngong told Associated Press he tried to stop the bidding last month.
He said Facebook and everyone else involved should be held accountable for what he called "the biggest test of child abuse, trafficking and auctioning of a human being".
“She has been reduced to a mere commodity,” Ngong told AP.
