An alleged Facebook faker will face a judge next month after authorities in Brandon, Man., charged the teen with impersonating one of his teachers on the popular social networking site.
In a case that could spark a rash of criminal charges against Facebook pranksters, Brandon police laid a rare charge of personation against the high-school student, whose name cannot be released under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, on Friday after he allegedly set up a Facebook profile in the teacher's name, complete with a photo and biographical details.
The teacher contacted police days after the profile was created in mid-April, according to Sergeant Rod Koscielny.
Police laid charges after deciding the profile contained "enough information to cause some disadvantage to the teacher," said Sgt. Koscielny, who wouldn't elaborate.
The Brandon case marks the first time many experts have seen a personation charge filed against social networkers.
Personation charges apply to impersonation with criminal intent.
"It's news to me that they're using it for online charges," said Don Johnston, president of the Canadian IT Law Association. "But it seems like it could be entirely appropriate. It would set a precedent right across Canada."
Such a precedent could pose problems for Facebook users.
Impersonation is banned under the site's terms of use, but that doesn't stop users from setting up phony profile pages.
Of Facebook's 70 million profiles, thousands are probably suspect. How else to explain the profile page for Stéphane Dion's dog Kyoto, the five separate profiles for NHL star Sidney Crosby or the 20-plus profiles claiming to be that of B.C.-born sexpot Pamela Anderson?
"Facebook offers the perfect opportunity to impersonate others," said Mr. Johnston.
A Facebook spokeswoman said the site actively runs checks for invalid profiles and removes any that it deems fake.
But while imposters are common on Facebook and other social-networking sites, criminal charges against them are not.
In a recent case that sent a chill throughout social-networking sites, Fouad Mortada, a Moroccan computer engineer, was sentenced to three years in jail for setting up a Facebook profile in the name of Prince Moulay Rachid, second in line to the Moroccan throne.
Twenty-four junior-high students in Edmonton were expelled or suspended last year for posting profiles in the names of two teachers on the social-networking site Nexopia, but they did not face criminal charges.
The Canadian statute defining personation specifies that the charge only applies if the impersonator intends either to personally profit or to harm his victim in the process.
"The Criminal Code makes it really clear that impersonation alone isn't bad," said Mr. Johnston, who is not involved with the Brandon case. "It has to be impersonation with criminal intent."
Based on the scant details police are releasing about the Brandon case, Mr. Johnston said it was hard to find much evidence of criminal intent. "At the end of the day, this kid may not be guilty of any criminal offence even though it may be an outrage that he'd do such a thing."
The school district has moved the student into new classes, according to Sgt. Koscielny, ensuring he doesn't come into contact with the teacher.
Donna Michaels, superintendent of Brandon School Division, said the case underscores the difficulties school officials experience in keeping abreast of students' online offences.
"It's a whole new area of conduct for us," she said. "We can't just pick up a school law book and see a precedent for this sort of thing."
