Media & Communications Law
Mom Sues, Says Fake Facebook Profile Used Son’s Name, Photo & Cell Number
Posted Sep 25, 2009 10:39 AM CST
By Martha Neil
An Illinois mom has filed a defamation suit over a fake Facebook profile in her teenage son's name that included his photograph and real cell phone number.
The profile on the social networking website included obscenities and racist information and described purported sexual encounters between the unnamed teenager and other males, says Laura Cook in the Cook County Circuit Court lawsuit she filed yesterday. It contends that four individual defendants identified only by their initials created the fake profile and damaged her son's reputation with his friends and athletic peers, reports the Chicago Tribune.
It seeks damages and a court order that the defendants must not impersonate her son again online.
Additional coverage:
Ars Technica: "Not an obscene racist after all: 4 flagged for Facebook fake"
Updated on Sept. 28 to link to subsequent Ars Technica post.
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Comments
removed by moderator
Sep 25, 2009 11:25 AM CST
Comment removed by moderator.
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B. McLeod
Sep 25, 2009 11:36 PM CST
Must have been the non-PC, racist stuff that caused an issue, since recent court rulings reflect that gayness is Hollywood chic, hence, not defamatory. Maybe the perps were friends, trying to help him look cool.
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VG
Sep 28, 2009 8:05 AM CST
This is not meant to be trolling, but why can’t kids settle things like in the good old days. Someone says something about you, you find the kid after school, give him a bloody nose and they leave you alone for the rest of the school year. Now, everything is a damn lawsuit.
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JM
Sep 28, 2009 1:06 PM CST
B. McLeod—you regularly post some of the most inane, nonsensical, and downright ignorant comments on this website. On every. single. article. Give it a rest!
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MacTheKnife
Sep 28, 2009 1:43 PM CST
#3 VG - Why can’t it be like the really old good old days where you called them out in the street drew out your pistol and shot them dead. Oh wait, that actually goes on in some neighborhoods. My bad. Laudable though isn’t it? Lawlessness is lawlessness whether it be by the gun or the fist. To advocate the latter is to entertain opening the door to the former as is evidenced today in many poor urban neighborhoods.
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donte
Sep 28, 2009 5:46 PM CST
B. McLeod I must agree!!!
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B. McLeod
Sep 29, 2009 1:51 AM CST
JM, I’m tapped into current events, and clearly, you’re not. For God’s sake, watch Scooby Doo cartoons if you have to, but do something to catch up.
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