Trending

Man arrested for 'poking' woman on Facebook, police say

MILTON, Conn. — Police arrested a man Monday after they said he "poked" a woman on Facebook despite the fact that she had taken out a protection order against him, according to multiple reports.

Eric Bauer, 27, is accused of violating a no-contact protection order issued on May 5 by using Facebook's "poke" feature on an unidentified woman, WTNH reported.

Bauer was scheduled to appear in court on Tuesday.

When a user "pokes" someone else on Facebook, it sends the person a notification. The feature has been described as a virtual wave.

"People 'poke' their friends or friends of friends on Facebook for a lot of reasons (examples: just saying hello, getting their attention)," according to Facebook.

It's not the first time someone has faced charges over the longstanding feature. A Tennessee woman was charged in 2009 with violating a legal order of protection after authorities said she "poked" a woman on Facebook.

"Protective orders are not always about physical danger, they're often about getting this person out of your attention and getting away from them," Ryan Calo, then a residential fellow at Stanford Law School's Center for Internet & Society, told ABC News in 2009. "A poke is a very deliberate action. You have to select the person and say, 'This is what I want to do.'"