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United's fury at fake tweet
David Lewis | March 2nd, 2010
GOLD Coast United is the latest A-League club to become embroiled in a Twitter identity theft saga prompting a Professional Footballers Association bid to clamp down on social networking websites.
Online impersonators have added coach Miron Bleiberg, midfielder Charlie Miller and striker Shane Smeltz to their hit-list on the popular site after a previous fake Jason Culina persona was shut down by Twitter administrators earlier in the season.
Though the often mindless babble of the bogus tweets is obviously erroneous to anybody but the most gullible, the PFA takes a dim view of identity misappropriation and is hunting down impostors with zeal.
Explaining players across all codes are being targeted, PFA chairman Brendan Schwab said several A-League players had had their personalities hijacked this season and any defamation could expose guilty parties to serious legal action.
"The legal avenues are opening up whereby that is now possible," he said.
"Anybody posing as a footballer who defames that player could face ramifications. That hasn't happened yet but it certainly could."
Schwab says Twitter have been responsive in removing sham identities from servers.
"Some of it is quite innocuous and might be purporting to be a personal conversation between a player and a coach," he added.
"It's erroneous and often relatively innocent but the bottom line is we take a strong view of any person trying to misappropriate the identity of a player. It's about protecting their privacy.
"These days players have to take every step possible to protect their reputations given the level of scrutiny they are under.
"It's imperative that no false stories are allowed to be generated through the social networking sites."
United chiefs were not immediately aware of the latest fraudulent tweets but also frown on the perpetrators, with the Culina case still fresh in the club's mind.
The PFA is also in pursuit of outspoken fans who defame players through the vehicle of internet message boards and forums, warning the same rules apply.
"People who post comments on forums need to be aware of these laws," added Schwab.
"Fans feel free to post venomous and personal criticism which could not pass as fair comment if it was written by a journalist and the same rules of defamation apply.
David Lewis | March 2nd, 2010
GOLD Coast United is the latest A-League club to become embroiled in a Twitter identity theft saga prompting a Professional Footballers Association bid to clamp down on social networking websites.
Online impersonators have added coach Miron Bleiberg, midfielder Charlie Miller and striker Shane Smeltz to their hit-list on the popular site after a previous fake Jason Culina persona was shut down by Twitter administrators earlier in the season.
Though the often mindless babble of the bogus tweets is obviously erroneous to anybody but the most gullible, the PFA takes a dim view of identity misappropriation and is hunting down impostors with zeal.
Explaining players across all codes are being targeted, PFA chairman Brendan Schwab said several A-League players had had their personalities hijacked this season and any defamation could expose guilty parties to serious legal action.
"The legal avenues are opening up whereby that is now possible," he said.
"Anybody posing as a footballer who defames that player could face ramifications. That hasn't happened yet but it certainly could."
Schwab says Twitter have been responsive in removing sham identities from servers.
"Some of it is quite innocuous and might be purporting to be a personal conversation between a player and a coach," he added.
"It's erroneous and often relatively innocent but the bottom line is we take a strong view of any person trying to misappropriate the identity of a player. It's about protecting their privacy.
"These days players have to take every step possible to protect their reputations given the level of scrutiny they are under.
"It's imperative that no false stories are allowed to be generated through the social networking sites."
United chiefs were not immediately aware of the latest fraudulent tweets but also frown on the perpetrators, with the Culina case still fresh in the club's mind.
The PFA is also in pursuit of outspoken fans who defame players through the vehicle of internet message boards and forums, warning the same rules apply.
"People who post comments on forums need to be aware of these laws," added Schwab.
"Fans feel free to post venomous and personal criticism which could not pass as fair comment if it was written by a journalist and the same rules of defamation apply.
