To be so upset people think we left without paying?

What on earth is wrong with them?! I have a hospitality business. If something like this happened I would be mortified that someone innocent was getting blamed and abused on my business page. The first thing I would do is edit the post to say in capitals at the top that the family in the photo are not involved and I was very sorry that I had accidentally made it look like they were. I would then either blur them out of the photo or draw a ring around the actual thieves. I just don’t understand why they are just leaving it up. It doesn’t take much intelligence to work out they’re creating a big mess!

Is there a local area community facebook group? I’d be inclined to put my own post on there saying how upset you are to be shown on the picture at the pub where they are complaining about people leaving without paying. Add a photo of your receipt and say that you have quite obviously got proof of payment and you have contacted the establishment to show them your proof, but the establishment are refusing to blur your family in the photo, despite knowing that you are being criticised by many people on the post. They have added a small edit to the middle of the text saying it is not you, but it is too little too late and barely noticeable. Say that you and your family are hurt and distressed by the establishment’s treatment. It’s completely marred your experience and they have lost any future custom.

best thing you can do is rally around your fb friends, and ask them to reply explaining it isn’t you and like the replies where you have replied and said it isn’t you. Change the algorithm in your favour.

i think its a crime to share CCTV of people not involved in the incident.

I definitely wouldnt go back.

Id contact them to cancel your next booking, advise them you are getting harassed at work and theyre sharing pictures of your underage child without consent and as you have proof you've paid, evidence they've refuse to remove the post or blur you image you'll take legal action against them

Id also put their disgusting behaviour all over their FB

Their attempts to catch 2 thieves has cost them the patronage of 20 decent customers

People who keep saying you should sue-

Have any of you got any idea of the cost this would be?! It's madness to suggest this.

I would not do this. Why should you be telling everyone else what you spent and open your family up for judgement from all the trollers about what they ate.

If they're using CCTV in a public, commercial space, they should have a Date Protection Impact Assessment in place. An image is a form of biometric data, so they have shared your special category data publicly.

It would generally be considered difficult to obtain individual consent to public CCTV, however, they should have documented their purposes for collecting, retaining and sharing personal data.

Putting random background individuals (inc. children's data of under 13yo) on a third party platform would not meet a purpose required for the organisation (in fact, naming and shaming the individuals themselves is a bit questionable in itself).

And thisis a perfect illustration of how this shit happens.

I know this has been pointed out already but I feel it bears repeating.

No, it’s a libel and the picture needs to be taken down and a public apology issued.

The publishing of the photo with the caption is the libel. There are only three defences against libel and none of them apply here.

The poster means it should literally be the first thing in the accompanying message. Rather than these people didn't pay it's awful etc please help us were just a small business blah blah blah oh and we don't mean all those people at the table who are the main part of the picture we just mean these two at the edge of the table. It's deliberately misleading.

That's fine, but change "this photo of myself.." to "this photo of me.."

This is annoying but if it clearly states the table aren't involved I'd just point that out to anybody who asks.

Get everyone you know to report the post to Facebook.

agree with threatening legal action it’s defamation of character.

They did, it's just people haven't read it. They have read the headline and assumed it's the op.

Can you contact the staff running the Facebook page and ask them to step in OP?

Agreed. That's really a horrible thing to have happen. I'd report the photo to Facebook myself as well.

Is there a way Facebook can remove a post which causes harassment?

Solicitor’s letter and local media first thing tomorrow.

Go direct to the brewery tomorrow. Check your house insurance for legal cover and if necessary get a solicitor.

Meanwhile, constantly list pictures of your receipt/bank payment.

I'm not sure a small sentence hidden in a bulk of text absolves them when they've posted multiple pictures of people who didn't pay and the OP and her family are in all of them.

He needs to put that fact you aren’t involved first in his text

The people responsible for the pictures, videos and posts are refusing to communicate with you. Report the content to the online platforms as targeted harassment against you. Consult a solicitor to begin the process of filing a lawsuit. They are misusing your image to make others believe you are guilty of something you can prove you didn’t do. This public exposure puts you at risk of attacks both online and in real life.

Screen shot the posts in case you want to complain or take action

And that's relevant how exactly?