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No Easy Remedy for Imposter Postings on Social Networking Sites

Like grafitti, phony postings are offensive but hard to control

By David Wood
ConsumerAffairs.com

March 17, 2008

• Facebook Agrees to Upgrade Safety Measures • Hanna Montana Photo Flap Part of a Trend • New Jersey Investigating College Gossip Site • No Easy Remedy for Imposter Postings on Social Networking Sites • Social Networking Sites Not the Biggest Danger for Teens? • Keeping Teens Safe Online • MySpace Agrees To Toughen Security For Young Users • MySpace Harassment Case Takes Odd Turn • Texas Sues Kids' Web Sites • States Keep the Heat on Facebook, MySpace • Texas Rounds Up 14 Sex Offenders on MySpace • New Jersey Subpoenas Facebook • Predator Who Used MySpace Gets Seven-Year Sentence • Facebook Has 'A Long Way to Go,' Investigators Say • Cuomo Charges Facebook Ignores Sexual Predators • MySpace Deletes More Sex Offenders • New Jersey Targets Sex Offenders With MySpace Profiles • States To Get MySpace Sex Offender Data • MySpace Deletes Thousands Of Sex Offenders • States Press MySpace For Data On Sex Offenders • Survey Finds Teen Behaviors Linked with Victimization • New MySpace Security Measures May Be Too Late • MySpace Builds Database to Target Predators • Pittsburgh Man Arrested in MySpace Sex Case • New Scam Targets MySpace Users • States Cracking Down on Dating Sites • MySpace Glitch Gives Hackers Teen Data • FTC "Concerned" About MySpace & Other Networking Sites • Texas Teen Sues MySpace for $30 Million • MySpace Debuts $1.99 Video Downloads • Massachusetts Puts Heat on MySpace.com • MySpace Names Security Czar • Connecticut Asks MySpace to Provide Blocking Software to Parents • What's Inside MySpace.com? • Connecticut Opens MySpace.Com Probe --- • MySpace Complaints • Facebook Complaints

In November, 2007, a 13-year-old Ohio boy used his home computer to create a fake MySpace profile titled "Your Princeypal." Although no name was included, the profile featured a picture of the principal at the boy's school and the statement, "I am the hillside middle school principal."

The profile goes on to describe the supposed poster as a child molester who performs sex acts in his office and enjoys watching gay porn.

School officials took action and in February, 2008, the 13-year-old was expelled from school for the offense of "malicious harassment." However, according to The Smoking Gun, the parents, Toader and Marianna Osan, have now sued school officials for violating the free speech rights of the 13-year-old.

Questions also exist as to why a 13-year-old was on MySpace when the required minimum age is 14.

As the tragic case of Megan Meier proved, fake and impostor social networking profiles are no laughing matter, as numerous ConsumerAffairs.com readers have discovered.

"Someone has created a false account with all my personal information/pictures," complained Jennifer, of Bronx, New York. "They are also making false accusations causing unknown people to try and contact me. They have provided strangers with my phone numbers and job/home address."

Steve, of San Diego, California, wrote, "Someone constructed a web page using my daughter's personal information including her pictures, phone number, etc. They portrayed her as someone soliciting sex of different types. We have contacted MySpace via email numerous times but no one has replied."

And Leslie, of Alpharetta, Georgia, said that someone set up a MySpace account using her daughter's picture and identity. "My daughter is 10 years old. I have sent emails to have the myspace removed to no avail," Leslie wrote.

More space, more profiles

MySpace began as a way for bands to promote their work and intermingle with other musicians. Today, however, MySpace has grown to be the social networking monster of the Internet with over 100-million active profiles, most of them teens looking for their own "space" to hang out.

As MySpace has grown, so have the number of impostor profiles. While many fake profiles can be labeled a "parody," other profiles are made with the clear intent of causing harm or harassment to another individual. And creating an impostor profile is easy thanks to the fact that MySpace has no age or identity verification.

Critics accuse MySpace of not caring but there are some very real hurdles. While it might be feasible to verify the age and identity of someone 18 or older, trying to verify a minor's identity is very difficult.

"When it concerns a kid, how do we want to manage children's information and data in the United States?" said Marsali Hancock, President of the Internet Keep Safe Coalition. "Who will hold the information and how will it be shared? It's not something that can be easily implemented," Hancock said.

Without verification, it takes only an Internet connection to create a real or fake profile. But getting a fake profile removed is another story entirely.

MySpace includes a link at the bottom of every profile to report abuse, but many people misuse this to harass someone who has posted a legitimate profile. In addition to the "report abuse" link, MySpace recommends the victim send a "salute."

What is a salute?

To submit a salute, MySpace says that you'll need to send them a picture of yourself holding a handwritten sign with the word "MySpace.com" and your "Friend ID." You'll also need to include the address of the impostor profile.

"I think the salute is ridiculous. At the time it was put in place, I told them it was ridiculous," said Parry Aftab, Internet privacy and security attorney and the Executive Director of WiredSafety.org.

Requiring this "salute" puts the burden on the victim instead of the person who made the fake profile, critics say. Further, if someone is impersonating you and you don't have an account with MySpace, you must create a profile before sending the salute.

This can be a real problem for someone who doesn't have access to the Internet.

"My son is incarcerated in prison and has no access to the internet or email," wrote Dana, of Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. "Someone has created a Myspace page for him that is disgusting and vile."

Dana said that she has repeatedly contacted MySpace because her son was extremely upset, but the profile remained online. "People think it is his page," Dana wrote.

ConsumerAffairs.com made numerous requests to MySpace asking for comment, but the company, owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation, did not respond to our calls and e-mails.

Safe Harbor

Angry victims harbor visions of suing the Web site and the person responsible for creating the fake profile. However, suing MySpace, Facebook, or any other social networking site is difficult due to something called the Safe Harbor Provision.

Under the Safe Harbor Provision, most Web sites are immune from prosecution as long as they cooperate in tracking down the person that created the impostor profile.

But this doesn't mean that the impostor can't be taken to court.

"One of the things intriguing to me is that people will do things on the Internet that they wouldn't think of doing in a newspaper or magazine," said John Nockleby, Professor of Law at the Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.

"Masquerading as another person certainly could potentially violate several torts. A tort is a civil wrong."

"One example would be misrepresentation, where a person misrepresents another person and causes some kind of harm. Another example is false light, which means that even if a statement isn't defamatory, it could still be false and put the person in a false light," Nockleby said.

"A few areas to consider would be defamation and violation of privacy," said David Sorkin, Associate Professor at the John Marshall Law School in Chicago. "However, if it's a privacy case, a lawsuit can open those details to the entire world, especially if the media picks it up."

"You also have to realize that if the profile is seen as just a parody, there may be no legal violations" and therefore no remedy, Sorkin added.

Here to stay

Under current law, impostor profiles and other objectionable Web content are here to stay, at least until social networking Web sites take the responsibility of setting up effective verification procedures.

But it's not likely that will happen, said one attorney knowledgeable in the topic, because Web sites potentially open themselves to a greater risk of prosecution by trying to verify all postings than by verifying none.

"Once you voluntarily assume responsibility for the content on your site, you also take on the very real risk that you will be held accountable if some of the content is inaccurate or defamatory," said Joan E. Lisante, a Northern Virginia lawyer who has worked with Internet publishers, including ConsumerAffairs.com.

Thus, it's likely there will be many more parents who feel like Christine, of Levittown, Pennsylvania.

"Someone created an account with my 16 year old son's picture which was doctored to be pornographic. I'm going to need to see a doctor for help myself if it isn't removed soon."

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