Have you ever wondered if using a fake name on social media is okay?
Sebana had been looking for a ‘soulmate’ for a long time. One of his friends told him that social media was where the soulmate would be waiting. So, he joined Tinder, Instagram, plus all the dating apps. On one of those apps, he found ‘Gloria-B3’, and she told him that B3 meant ‘Birungi Black Beauty’. They started dating online, and after four months, Sebana was truly in love until he met her. To his shock, it turned out to be his neighbour Akoth who had even bleached. Sebana was so disappointed because Akoth had wasted his time. He wants to know if using a fake name on social media is okay.
WHAT DOES THE LAW SAY?
Well, the Ugandan law says that pretending to be another person(even a dead person) in order to trick someone else is a crime, called personation. For example, if you make a person believe that you are the ‘manager UCC” or Daudi when you are really Benedicto, this is impersonation.
However, this is different from using a pseudonym (alias or what we commonly know as a.k.a). An example is Namukwaya Hajara Diana a.k.a Spice Diana. This is not her real name but she is not using another person's name or claiming to be someone she is not else. There is no law that says you cannot use a pseudonym on your own social media profile.
In fact, there is no law that says your alias/fake name should describe your physical appearance. So Gloria-B3 did not do anything wrong by calling herself “Birungi black beauty” even after bleaching. So Sebana cannot sue her because there was no intention to trick him.
To protect yourself from being lied to, you can ask for photos or even meet in person or do a back ground check. People usually impersonate famous and popular people because of the fame and favours that come along.
Source; BarefootLaw
📷: Unsplash
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