Brands should beware of celebrity impersonators

Has social media spawned its own version of identity theft?

Chat Moderators today warns businesses of the growing threat of online impersonation in connection with the rise in social media initiatives. The social media expert believes that brands should be taking such risks into account when launching social networking initiatives highlighting that social networking by its nature, allows users to “hide behind” a profile that they have created themselves and as a result, celebrity impersonation has now become rife.

Third party social networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, have taken a zero tolerance approach to impersonation of any kind, terminating any account if they suspect it is being run by an impersonator. Chat Moderators has seen an increase in the number of businesses requesting that the management of such incidences is incorporated into their overall moderation programme; this has further been driven by the the number of high profile celebrity cases of social networking impersonation such as Beyonce Knowles who recently considered taking legal action against people impersonating her on Twitter.

Rob Marcus, director, Chat Moderators, explains, “Many of our clients are increasingly asking that the moderation policy we deploy for them incorporates dealing with impersonation issues. For one of our clients we are required to identify whether a post is being made with the username of, or worded as though coming from, a public figure. That way, if a complaint is received, we have an audit trail to follow and appropriate action can be swiftly taken. In another of our clients’ forums, they ask us to fail items that imply the author is either a member of staff, a moderator, a representative of a famous brand, or a celebrity. While for some high profile clients we are tasked purely with moderating complaints of impersonation.”

Brands that take a lax attitude towards impersonation, could find that more serious complaints follow such as defamation or invasion of privacy if the impersonator begins making defamatory or false statements. High profile cases of celebrity impersonation also include Whoopi Goldburg, who now refuses to create an online profile, because she already feels powerless over the countless pages attributed to her on social networking sites like Facebook.

It seems even spiritual leaders have a presence on social networking sites; a Twitter account that gathered over 20,000 followers, under the guise of the Dalai Lama was recently pulled after representatives informed the company that the profile had been created by an impersonator.

Marcus concludes, “It is sad that social networking seems to have spawned its own version of identity theft – people pretending to be celebrities. In my experience of most cases, it is fans that impersonate their idol and get their 15 minutes of fame in the process, but in other cases, it can be malicious or undesirable and also ruins the experience for genuine fans.

“There are many different ‘takes’ on how community sites can address the issue of impersonation, but like in so much of social media moderation, what is really important is that potential problems are spotted early, and if not addressed at the time, recorded so that a fast response can be made in the event that the ‘real Beyonce’, for example, stands up and expresses their displeasure. What the courts don’t like to see is a slack attitude on the part of the publishers of UGC when it comes to content that may turn out to be defamatory or privacy invading.”