Catfishing: Part 1

This post is completely inspired by the MTV show called Catfish, and also from a personal experience where I witnessed first-hand the issue of the increasingly common activity of catfishing. It also will look at the laws governing copyright infringements and identity/personality theft but not in the sense that they are commonly known for. This is focusing on "fake" people who have become masks for real people who pretend to be these people.

 A catfish itself has been defined colloquially as " someone who pretends to be someone they're not using Facebook or other social media to create false identities, particularly to pursue deceptive online romances." The activity was brought to light through the documentary which is, of course, called Catfish and it is now a popular MTV show. It follows individuals who are in online relationships with someone over Facebook. They have never met the person but have fallen for them emotionally through their contact with each other online. This is surprisingly easy to do which is perhaps highlighted through the popularity of dating sites. The TV show helps the victim to identify the person they believe they are talking to or as a means of finding out if they are in love with someone who doesn't really exist. It is almost always the case that the person they have fallen for is not who they think they are talking to and it is often the case that they know the person who has hidden their true identity by use of someone else's pictures.

As someone who was there for a friend who was a victim of this crazy activity, I feel quite strongly about fake profiles. It is so easy to take a picture from google, think of a fake name and create a profile of someone who doesn't exist. My friend was sent a request by a very beautiful girl who he later found out was someone he knew hiding behind a mask in the form of a social media profile. No doubt he felt betrayed and stupid for letting himself get involved emotionally with someone he never met but genuinely believed, or hoped, to be the person they said they were. The pictures turned out to be of a girl who had no clue (and probably still doesn't) about the use of her pictures in assisting someone who wanted to pursue a deceptive online romance with my friend. There were several sob stories which were later found out to be lies shared with my friend which is where he began to fall for the fake girl. Some of these stories were so elaborate and obviously made up to others but he overlooked the lies as he 100% wanted to be with this person. Even when he found out the girl wasn't who she said she was, he still wanted to move to another country to be with her. Absolutely ridiculous. This is the sort of thing you expect to be in movies but it unfortunately happens in real life, to real people and frequently.

My issue with this is fuelled by the fact I am a law student and it angers me when people are wronged. Being tricked like this should not be happening and it is sad that there is nothing stated in the law as it stands which would prevent this from happening. It hurts real people; innocent people. Identity theft is associated with money, but could it be the case that the law on this may be extended to include the "theft" of a person or a personality?

I recently found this which details the Bill submitted in New York which caters for this particular issue. A significant step forward which recognises the need for legal protections. Unfortunately no such Bill has been created to highlight this in the UK.

Through my blog, I will come back to this issue after more research; I am not researching this for a specific purpose but merely to highlight the lack of legal rulings against catfishing in the UK as well as the issue itself as it is something that interests me.