CPS warn malicious catfishers could face jail
Saw this article while we were down and have been saving it to post! Before you read any more, please note that it's not just anyone who uses a fake photo, but someone who uses it for a malicious reason (highlighted below)
New draft guidelines from the Crown Prosecution Service said that posing as someone else online and publishing damaging information could be a criminal offence.
Quote:
Originally Posted by BuzzFeed
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) unveiled new draft guidelines on Thursday that said prosecutors should charge adults who use fake accounts to harass others.
While this isn’t a change in the law, the CPS is encouraging prosecutors to use existing legislation to target people using fake profiles to abuse or impersonate a real person, a practice that has previously gone unpunished in some instances.
Alison Saunders, director of public prosecutions, said: “It is vital that prosecutors consider the bigger picture when looking at evidence and examine both the online and offline behaviour pattern of the defendant.
“Worryingly we have seen an increase in the use of cyber-enabled crime in cases related to violence against women and girls, including domestic abuse. Offenders can mistakenly think that by using false online profiles and creating websites under a false name their offences are untraceable. Thankfully this is not the case and an online footprint will be left by the offender.”
The guidelines make clear, however, that children should not be prosecuted for activity related to fake online accounts, except in rare cases.
There are four instances where prosecutors could charge someone under existing legislation, the CPS said:
— Where there is a credible threat to an individual
— When someone is targeted for harassment, stalking, or revenge porn
— Where someone has breached a court order
— And when a fake identity is used to publish information that someone might find upsetting, or that might cause anxiety.
It’s already illegal to send threatening or abusive messages under section 127 of the Communications Act – for which thousands of people have been arrested, charged, or jailed.
In February last year new legislation was introduced outlawing revenge porn, where a compromising picture of someone is maliciously shared without their consent. Several people, including a 17-year-old boy, have been convicted and jailed under the new law.
And in December last year a new crime of “controlling or coercive behaviour in an intimate or family relationship” was created, which covers both online and offline abuse.
But the new CPS guidelines, which are subject to a six-week consultation process, could change how the police and prosecutors deal with online abuse cases.
In May 2015 BuzzFeed News told the story of Ruth Palmer, now Ruth Graves, then a 25-year-old account manager from Brighton living in Dubai, who discovered that someone had created a series of fake accounts using pictures from her Facebook and Instagram accounts, under the name “Leah Palmer”.
Palmer confronted the hoaxer and was met with a volley of abuse. She then went to the police, who told her there was nothing they could do.
She told BuzzFeed News last year: “In the end it got so vitriolic I went to the police to ask if there’s anything they could do about it. They said, ‘No it’s online, it’s not really harassment, there’s no legislation.’”
Alison Saunders said on the BBC’s Today programme on Thursday that the guidelines would consider freedom of speech when determining whether a prosecution can be brought.
“The line is drawn high, so if it’s malicious communications… we’ve made it clear the offence there is grossly offensive. We all use the internet and social media all the time and what we don’t want to do is anything that has a chilling effect on free speech.
“But where it’s a serious crime and where it’s seriously impacting on people’s lives, that’s where we do want to look at it and see if we have the evidence to prosecute.”
Personally I think this has been such a grey area in the past and people have been led to tons of bad situations by people who fake accounts. And there are people whose pictures get stolen and possibly used maliciously which could damage their own reputation or anything.
This bit speaks to me the most - When someone is targeted for harassment, stalking, or revenge porn - because I've seen situations of this happening unfortunately and it's really distressing for the people involved.
I think it's good that some actual guidelines have been put in place for *when* (I'd love to say if but we all know its not true) these things happen again in the future.
Thoughts?
No nasty comments or digs at other members please.
