PC Authority is reporting that a fake Facebook page set up to humiliate a former friend has lead to severe, court-awarded damages.
A freelance photographer is facing a £22,000 bill after setting up a fake Facebook page that libelled a former classmate.
[SNIP]
[The Judge] awarded . . . £15,000 in damages and £2,000 for breach of privacy and gave his company £5,000 for libel.
“The significance of this case is that it shows that what you post is not harmless, but has consequences,” media lawyer, Jo Sanders, of Harbottle & Lewis, told the BBC.
“Sat at home or school or in the office, it’s easy to think of social networking sites as harmless fun, that it’s like chatting with friends, and that things posted there are either a joke or just a mischievous way of causing embarrassment. This ruling puts an end to that.”
Internet defamation and internet revenge often take the form of fake profiles and profile jacking. This ruling, and the hefty costs attached to it, shows how serious the notion of Online Reputation Management is for the courts in a world where we are increasingly identified by our virtual identities.
0 comments ↓
There are no comments yet...Kick things off by filling out the form below.
Leave a Comment