Is A Fake Facebook Profile Illegal?
from the down-in-the-legal-weeds dept
Remember the guy who was arrested and sent to jail for creating a fake Facebook profile of a Moroccan prince? While it's unlikely that anyone will land in jail, more such disputes have been ending up in the courtroom. It seems to be most popular in high schools, where teachers and administrators are suing students for setting up fake profiles of them. It's not difficult to see why these adults are upset -- as the profiles are usually quite unflattering. But, it's an open question as to whether or not the profiles are illegal. Even more to the point, Facebook has a clear policy that it will delete fake profiles when it becomes aware of them, so it seems like quite a bit of overkill for teachers to sue students rather than just having Facebook take down the profiles.Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
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Filed Under: fake profile, first amendment, free speech, identity fraud, students, teachers
Companies: facebook, myspace
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Fake facebook profile
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Re: Fake facebook profile
you're a freaking idiot
Learn the law stupid fuck
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Re: fake facebook account of teacher
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However, it could fall under criminal impersonation (unlikely still, but closer than fraud) or just plain defamation. Calling someone names isn't really defamatory, but putting words in someone else's mouth might be considered defamatory.
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As for teachers masquerading as children, I think you read the article wrong...
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You misread it.
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no legs to stand
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Re: no legs to stand
If someone tries to tell the world they are you, and presents wrong, slanderous information, that is "defamation of character".
People forget that the true meaning of "freedom of speech" was intended to protect a person's right to tell the TRUTH. Keep track of that word. TRUTH.
Here's an example...
GOOD (protected by amendments).
"I am Bill and in my opinion, D is a fag."
BAD (slanderous and unprotected).
Bill saying: "I am D and a fag."
The difference is night and day.
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Re: Re: no legs to stand
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Re: no legs to stand
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Meh...
In the case of a simple parody site I don't see the problem, and it's probably protected by free speech. But I think that in cases where you're making very serious allegations and providing information that random strangers can use to contact the target then you've probably crossed a line. I think that you're essentially inviting someone to contact the target, or at least intending that someone do so. That probably rises to the level of harassment, which probably should be prevented and/or punished.
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Re: Meh...
2) Yes, everyone has the right of free speech. If you have lied to a certain someone by telling them you love them and turning around to tell others you are not serious, the person has every right to tell everyone what you did to him/her by creating a fake profile of you and describing you in ways that's registered in their minds from the information collected from the people you call friends.
3) There's a thin line that everyone crosses; ie between flirting vs cheating, texting vs sexting so if the line is not visible, we all wont know when we cross it.
4) Harrassment during a relationship is the same as after a relationship. Both are harrassment nontheless.
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Slander
And if its over the radio or TV its "...over the radio or on TV -- it is considered libel, rather than slander, because the statement has the potential to reach a very wide audience."
This type of activity should be regulated to protect the development and acceptence of Social Networking.
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Re: Slander
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Re: Slander
(I hope I'm getting the spelling right)
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Need I say more?
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need I say more?
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Where will this eventually lead us? As a country?
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Still overkill, but they at least know who to blame, and are not just lashing out at the company with the deep pockets.
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Faking fakers
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Teachers should get on Facebook
Suing students is not a solution, it only creates more problems.
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Re: Teachers should get on Facebook
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if it's found illegal, think of the rammifications!
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Loophole!?
Sweet
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Re: Loophole!?
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Fucking assholes.
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Unique Analysis of Cases
Many of you have hit near the nail, but noone can know if you hit the head until you talk about the specifics of an individual instance.
Rhetorical Questions like "Need I say more?" are actually frivilous, because when you are talking about if something is illegal, then it all depends on the specifics. So yes, you do need to say more.
In terms of the law, a fake Facebook page itself is not illegal, but it can be a tool used to break the law. A hammer itself is not illegal, but the use of a hammer to murder someone is. A false facebook profile (or any profile for that matter) can be used to commit a crime.
Fraud, Lible, Defamation, etc. are all crimes that can be committed with a facebook profile, but the act of having a false profile itself is not illegal, (just against the terms in the contract you sign with facebook when you create the profile).
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Interesting
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Re: Interesting
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Good Point! Uday Shankar
This could add a few hundred thousand additional profiles to Facebooks bottom-line.
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its called proxy
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CYBER-TERROR ALERT
.......................................................
DANGER . DANGER... RED ALERT... DANGER... RED-WHITE-BLUE ALERT.
AL-QAEDA CYBER-TERRORISTS are deploying fake MySpace profiles on teh INTERWEBTUBES to DESTROY AMERICAN SCHOOLS.
RED-WHITE-BLUE CYBER-TERROR ALERT.
.......................................................
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missed point
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It's not parody
I work at a school, not as a teacher but I do deal with students. If a student ever did to me, I'd sue them quick-smart without any hesitation.
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MySapce legal question
Thanks!
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Yeah, Facebook definitely act responsibly.
Not.
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sign up to take down?
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Re: sign up to take down?
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Facebook Refuses to Delete Fake Profiles
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Re: Facebook Refuses to Delete Fake Profiles
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Facebook Refuses to Delete Fake Profiles
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Fake Facebook Profiles
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best affiliate programs
best affiliate programs
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As a model point of view.
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Its quite a shame really because these people wtih fake profiles have spent almost a year building up over a billion points and then I anonymously come along and report them and they get their account deleted and POW all billion points gone forever! HAHA. serves them right for creating fake profiles to cheat.
Heres the form to report fake profile:
http://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=fake_profile
heres the form to report imposter profile (someone pretending to be you):
http://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=impostor_profile
heres the form to report someone who has created a business profile (facebook only allowed people not businesses!)
http://www.facebook.com/help/contact.php?show_form=business_account
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False profile solution
Once the user implements the system into their profiles it obligates websites to remove false profiles and block new users from creating profiles that use the same name.
I will be pleased when the system is complete and our team has adequate financing to implement it.
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theory vs practise
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Corporations Even Create Fake Proflies
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RE:WARNING
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Facebook.
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Talking may be the key
Maybe, if the teachers sue the kids, that would teach them a lesson, and then, maybe not. And who are these kids, anyway? Have they been so stupid as to reveal their names?
The best thing that can be done, in my opinion, is to talk about this in the school, so that a wannabe "faker" may think twice before doing something that he now nows is wrong. Or maybe I'm being too optimistic about the kids...
That said, it is really too easy to get a digital picture of somebody and then to create an account with it. Many will not agree, I'm sure, but I think that Facebook and similar "services" are so useless and potentially dangerous that they should be terminated altogether. If I know somebody, I can email him, or talk to him on the phone, or even face to face. And if I don't know him, reading a few lines, such as "I like jazz" or Chinese food, whatever", certainly does not teach me anything about him. So, what's the use of this Facebook thing to begin with?
Thanks for reading.
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fakes are just plain ANNOYING
I, myself have someone using my photos at this moment in time.
(facebook: Amelia Mclauren)
& tbh, it creeps me out & thats putting it mildly.
I think it should be illegal because it's sort of identity theft. & i also dont like the fact that she makes out that has a lot of 'sexual intercourse' with boys she hasn't even met. basically making me out to be a slapper :O lol
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Illegal facebook profiles
If anyone should sue and if anything should be illegal it should be debt collectors creating fake FB profiles in an effort to catch debtors. Go back nad it the old fashioned way like they did 30 yrs ago before the internet.
The debt collector who hired that woman to pretend to be Jenny Anderson should be sued.
Who knows what they are doing with any personal information she collected fro mthe debtors. She could be posting personal info all over the net and there is no regulation so these people can pretty much do whatever they want whether people like it or not. And who knows how that info is used or whose hands it will fall into.
No regulation equals illegalities and invasion of privacy on every level.
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Illegal facebook profiles
If anyone should sue and if anything should be illegal it should be debt collectors creating fake FB profiles in an effort to catch debtors. Go back nad it the old fashioned way like they did 30 yrs ago before the internet.
The debt collector who hired that woman to pretend to be Jenny Anderson should be sued.
Who knows what they are doing with any personal information she collected fro mthe debtors. She could be posting personal info all over the net and there is no regulation so these people can pretty much do whatever they want whether people like it or not. And who knows how that info is used or whose hands it will fall into.
No regulation equals illegalities and invasion of privacy on every level.
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daughter_harrased
She then would log into each account and make comments all of who were attacking my daughter. She would log in as my child and make it sound like my daughter was calling her the "B" word and more.
Since my child did not know about the facebook page, she would go to school only to get harrassed by this girl and her friends who joined in. THe friends did not and still do not know that the profile is fake.
I reported the child to the principal and the first time we heard about a facebook profile was when she said that she was being mean to my child because my child had said bad things on facebook. Interestingly enough, the profile was removed the next day and not by my child. I know this because I sleep with my computer and after we discovered the facebook page, we went to sleep and woke up the next morning and it had been removed. My daughter could not have done it since I had the laptop all night with me.
This little girl does not realize (but will soon learn) that once you make a page, it does not disappear. And luckily, I was able to find a cached version and copied all of the pages that I could where she made really awful comments about and pretending to be from my child.
Last night I went to the school's fall choir concert and I noticed the "coldness" coming from the girls who used to run up to me and say hi. Or they used to be friends with my child. I now realize what she must have gone through and is still going through.
So I have decided to file a police report, turn in the copies to the school and the school district, and possibly sue. The damage to my child is enormous. Now 40 or 50 kids think that my child did something when she was nowhere around facebook.
She is getting ganged up on and if that girl continues with it, she could get jumped. I have also noticed that my daughter has stopped telling me the crap that the kids are doing at school because I think she is trying to still fit in. It's sad and scary because she is holding it in.
I am going as far as I can to uncover this.
It's hurtful.
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Re: sue for what?
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facebook fake acounts
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Re: facebook fake acounts
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Fake's
You can tell when someone's a fake for example, if they have thousands of friends && they dont even know 1.
Youu can see on their profile loads of people are saying ''who's this?!'' or ''thanks for the add but do i know you''.
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A faker I've come across has been pretending to be another girl for 2+ years, stalking the real girl on Facebook and Myspace. He/she makes new profiles every time after getting reported for deletion. What's even more baffling though, is that this person does not only fake accounts of this one girl, he/she makes profiles of the real girl's friends as well, and have them "talk" to each other. It's insane.
I've told the real girl to contact the authorities, specifically the FBI, since they deal with cyber crimes. Anyway, if anyone comes across anyone who calls herself "heatherleamarie", be sure to tell the pathetic slob to get a life and not try to live one off some fantasy on the internet.
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teachers
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fake accounts
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Hates Fakers
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how do you get the dumb dude to work to just make beep friends
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games
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Hmm...
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what does it take to get facebook to remove fake profiles?
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someone opun a fake profile in me name
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prince moulay rachid
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A legal perspective
Parody: It must be stated somewhere on the profile that this is not a real profile. The name used can be the person's real name as long as this is stated. If the name is altered in a way that points out that the profile is fake, it still has to have the statement that says its not real.
Libel: This only applies if something untrue was said AND the account does NOT have the statement declaring parody.
Slander: This will only apply if there is some sort of soundbite, recording, etc. that states a lie and the statement declaring it as a parody is not present.
Identity Theft: Confidential personal information must be present, being gathered by, or being used by the account.
Defamation: This will only apply if the statement of the person is not posted and there is damage to the persons reputation.
Fraud: The account would have to be used to gather information from someone who thought the account was real.
Cyber Terrorism: Access must be gained to another person's account or computer using this account.
Even if they say its a parody, they can still be charged for using a real picture of the person. They can, however, use a look-a-like if they have that person's permission. The reason is that it may fall under the Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act, effective Jan. 1, 2004.
To the person who asked about it being a fan profile.
I am not sure about the policies on Facebook, but for it to be legal, you must make it stated that it is a Fan profile, not made by the subject of fanbase.
Anybody can sue someone over making a false account, but as long as there is a notice that it is a parady, even if it is somewhere nobody would look in fine print, they do not have a case. Facebook still reserves the right to cancel the account. It all boils down to your evidence and Judge if you have a valid case or not.
Thank you for your time.
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A legal perspective
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Yes it is illegal sometimes
Never make such assumptions as made on here about legality.
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Fake profiles are annoying and wrong
Fake profiles ruin people's lives and I think anyone who makes them deserves to be punished. Forgive me for being to strong-minded, but when stuff like that happens you do feel strongly about it.
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thank you so much
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fake pages ps i run LA
ps those fake pages bes b delted or u goin hear from my lawylers bye sweetyyyy
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سوال در مورد مکمل های غذایی
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Fake Accounts
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take down facebook
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fake profile detecter
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Facebook fake or Real Name Policy
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Facebook fake or Real Name Policy
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Fake Facebook Profiles
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