03 March 2016•Update: 04 March 2016
LONDON
Individuals in Britain who set up fake internet profiles to impersonate other people can now face criminal charges, prosecutors have announced.
The Crown Prosecution Service has proposed pursuing adults who use fake social media profiles on Facebook and Twitter to humiliate other people, such as former partners.
Alison Saunders, director of public prosecutions, said women and girls were particularly vulnerable to what she termed “cyber-enabled crime”.
She said in a statement on Thursday: “Online abuse is cowardly and can be deeply upsetting to the victim.
“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 are the latest step in U.K. efforts to counter the harmful effects of bullying in cyberspace.
Britain criminalized so-called ‘revenge pornography’ last year to target people who share intimate photographs of former partners online. Authorities have taken steps against people who use social media accounts to abuse and bully family members.
The new prosecution guidelines, expected to introduced after a six-week public consultation, do not cover parody or fan accounts.
Both Facebook and Twitter have facilities in place to report malicious impersonators.
