Is anything about this illegal?

emilylaucl

New Member
Jurisdiction
Georgia
6 months ago I discovered a Twitter account using my first name and all of my pictures. The account had been running for 15 months prior, without my knowledge. The account was using pictures from my Facebook, Instagram, and privately sent snapchats. The snapchats were sent to a specific individual, not posted for all to see. It was over 19 months ago so I do not remember who the snapchats would have been sent to, but the pictures were obtained and posted without my permission. There is no nudity in any of the pictures posted from the account. The account's header was a picture of me in a bikini, and had a very dirty bio calling me inappropriate things, and requesting sexual favors. The purpose of the account was to receive sexual images. For over a year, the account would post various pictures of me and friends/family members, pretending to be me, saying things such as "Me and my sister would like to get dirty tonight, DM for a good time." Many accounts responded with what they call c** or c*** tributes, where men physically printed or digitally enlarged pictures of me, then recorded or photographed themselves masturbating onto the images. At the time of these posts and photographs, I was 17, so I feel as though, being a minor at the time, this may fall under some sort of child exploitation. However, I do understand that since I am fully clothed in all images, their rights may be protected. The account posted as if it were me for over a year, and gained hundreds of followers. We contacted Twitter relentlessly and finally got the account suspended, along with many pornography websites which contained the videos and photographs of me (which with the men had responded with). Although the account is down, many photographs still appear with a simple Google search. Other twitter users are also still tweeting inappropriate things to the account.

Viewing these photographs and video recordings was emotionally disturbing. After hearing and seeing older men call me "baby girl", I was afraid to go out alone, in case someone recognized me from the account. For many months after I experienced extreme emotional distress, unable to trust anyone, and constantly afraid.

Besides getting the account shut down, we have contacted Snapchat to see if we could obtain my records around the time the account was created. The pictures were definitely sent to one person, so, obviously, either that person saved the Snaps and created the account, or, someone somehow hacked into my Snapchat, to save these pictures, if that is even possible...Either way, Snapchat would only provide the records under a court order.

Is there anything illegal here, that we could possibly take to court?

My main goal is to remove the rest of the pictures and stop the responding Tweets to end this emotional distress I have been experiencing, and eventually find out who the person who created this account is.

I understand there are many loopholes here, and that the person who impersonated me through this account may not have preformed any illegal activity. However, if anything sounds like it could be taken to an attorney or to court, please let me know.

Thank You!
 
I suggest you and your parents discuss your options with a couple local attorneys.

Many states have new laws that MIGHT assist you in your quest to reset the damage that was done.

You might also contact your local police agency, or the GBI and see what assistance law enforcement might be able to provide to you.
 
I suggest you and your parents discuss your options with a couple local attorneys.

Many states have new laws that MIGHT assist you in your quest to reset the damage that was done.

You might also contact your local police agency, or the GBI and see what assistance law enforcement might be able to provide to you.




Thank you. We have contacted the local police, who didn't seem to look too much into the situation, but said nothing appeared wrong with what the person did. Legal action could be pursued if I were to harm myself or others, or if nudity appeared, but since neither of those will happen, we're kind of at a standstill. The GBI is who shut down the Twitter account for us. We were just curious as to what the next step could be, in possibly finding who this person was.

But thank you for the advice. We will definitely contact a local attorney.

Have a great day!
 
Thank you. We have contacted the local police, who didn't seem to look too much into the situation, but said nothing appeared wrong with what the person did. Legal action could be pursued if I were to harm myself or others, or if nudity appeared, but since neither of those will happen, we're kind of at a standstill. The GBI is who shut down the Twitter account for us. We were just curious as to what the next step could be, in possibly finding who this person was.

But thank you for the advice. We will definitely contact a local attorney.

Have a great day!

You're welcome.

One more piece of advice, never use your picture for anything related to social media or the internet.

I use cartoon characters, or posters or quotes indicating a position I support.

Keep your privacy as secure as possible, and avoid using your name.

I prefer to emulate great authors of yesteryear, Mark Twain comes to mind.

I prefer to use a nom de plume. LOL
 
You were sending pictures of yourself in a bikini to someone you do not know, or multiple people you do not know? Extremely bad idea. Stop sending anything to those you do not know.
 
You were sending pictures of yourself in a bikini to someone you do not know, or multiple people you do not know? Extremely bad idea. Stop sending anything to those you do not know.

No...not at all! I would never. I was tagged in one bikini picture on facebook, that was all. I would never send anything like that to anyone. Especially someone I do not know, I'm a lot smarter than that. Every Snapchat sent was to somebody I personally know well..that's almost the worst part.

Thanks for the advice anyways, I totally agree with you in saying that is an awful idea.
 
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