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http://www.torontosun.com/2014/03/3...osters?token=fb94ba8fcfc25e69f7280e290e990b20
TORONTO - Councillor Doug Ford says he’d sue those impersonating him on Twitter if he could find them in the real world.
Mayor Rob Ford’s brother also thinks there should be a law against running a fake Twitter account pretending to be a real person.
“I feel people are cowards that hide behind Twitter (and) falsify myself,” Ford said Monday at City Hall. “I would sue ‘em if I found out who it was.”
Ford doesn’t use the social networking website and doesn’t have a Twitter account.
“I don’t even have one,” he said. “I have never Twittered.”
But that hasn’t stopped others from setting up parody accounts mocking the Etobicoke North (Ward 2) councillor.
“Imagine the three of you if someone put a fake Twitter account started saying nasty things, it gets you ticked off,” Ford said. “A law has to come down federally, I guess it would be federally, to make sure that people can’t do that.”
There are several Twitter accounts pretending to be Doug Ford.
At least one account ended up tricking people into thinking it was actually Ford who was tweeting. Back on March 21, Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong fired off several tweets at a fake Ford account. Minnan-Wong later admitted he thought the account was actually Ford.
Twitter allows parody and fan accounts but has strict rules around how the account is labelled including a line indicating the account is a parody. It also has a process for people to file impersonation complaints.
But Ford finds the situation frustrating.
“I just think it is repulsive that someone would actually do that and not have courage enough - they’re a bunch of cowards to hide behind a computer or hide behind their mobile device and start doing this,” he said.
Fake Twitter accounts have benefitted the Ford family in the past.
Back in 2010, Rob Ford’s election campaign used a fake Twitter account to get an audio tape from a man who Ford told over the phone that he would help him buy Oxycontin off the street.
Ford’s then campaign manager Nick Kouvalis revealed the secret of Queens Quay Karen — the fake Twitter account’s name — back in November 2010 after Ford swept into office.
“We were worried about the Smitherman campaign getting the tape,” Kouvalis said at the time.
TORONTO - Councillor Doug Ford says he’d sue those impersonating him on Twitter if he could find them in the real world.
Mayor Rob Ford’s brother also thinks there should be a law against running a fake Twitter account pretending to be a real person.
“I feel people are cowards that hide behind Twitter (and) falsify myself,” Ford said Monday at City Hall. “I would sue ‘em if I found out who it was.”
Ford doesn’t use the social networking website and doesn’t have a Twitter account.
“I don’t even have one,” he said. “I have never Twittered.”
But that hasn’t stopped others from setting up parody accounts mocking the Etobicoke North (Ward 2) councillor.
“Imagine the three of you if someone put a fake Twitter account started saying nasty things, it gets you ticked off,” Ford said. “A law has to come down federally, I guess it would be federally, to make sure that people can’t do that.”
There are several Twitter accounts pretending to be Doug Ford.
At least one account ended up tricking people into thinking it was actually Ford who was tweeting. Back on March 21, Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong fired off several tweets at a fake Ford account. Minnan-Wong later admitted he thought the account was actually Ford.
Twitter allows parody and fan accounts but has strict rules around how the account is labelled including a line indicating the account is a parody. It also has a process for people to file impersonation complaints.
But Ford finds the situation frustrating.
“I just think it is repulsive that someone would actually do that and not have courage enough - they’re a bunch of cowards to hide behind a computer or hide behind their mobile device and start doing this,” he said.
Fake Twitter accounts have benefitted the Ford family in the past.
Back in 2010, Rob Ford’s election campaign used a fake Twitter account to get an audio tape from a man who Ford told over the phone that he would help him buy Oxycontin off the street.
Ford’s then campaign manager Nick Kouvalis revealed the secret of Queens Quay Karen — the fake Twitter account’s name — back in November 2010 after Ford swept into office.
“We were worried about the Smitherman campaign getting the tape,” Kouvalis said at the time.