Need help against defamation on Twitter

[Interis]

Hi, all. I hope some of you can help me with this situation.

There is an account posting offensive remarks related to a specific religion on Twitter. The username of this account is in form of initials, which happen to match perfectly with my friend's name. Other users then started to accuse him as the owner of the offensive account. We have checked and clarified that they are different people. Unfortunately, some other Twitter users just don't want to stop. They took his photos and personal details from his social media and repost them with nasty captions. (That includes his family members, his university, clubs, etc.) They start making threats too.

What do you think is the best way to stop those idiots before we go to the police? Thank you in advance.

 

[IrishLass2247]

Hi, all. I hope some of you can help me with this situation.

There is an account posting offensive remarks related to a specific religion on Twitter. The username of this account is in form of initials, which happen to match perfectly with my friend's name. Other users then started to accuse him as the owner of the offensive account. We have checked and clarified that they are different people. Unfortunately, some other Twitter users just don't want to stop. They took his photos and personal details from his social media and repost them with nasty captions. (That includes his family members, his university, clubs, etc.) They start making threats too.

What do you think is the best way to stop those idiots before we go to the police? Thank you in advance.

I am sorry I am just seeing this as it sounds like your friend is really getting harassed. Since this was posted a month ago, I am curious if you have an update?
If you haven't had any sort of resolution, I would sincerely encourage you to contact the police. This has elevated to cyberbullying and harrassment. You could always try contacting Twitter and reporting the offending people. I would also suggest blocking, but Twitter does this really stupid thing of allowing others to see that you blocked them, which in my humble opinion, only encourages worse behavior. Lastly, have your friend make sure that his Facebook account is buttoned up tight so that people can't "mine" information from public information. He also needs to consider who his friends are since it seems like people he knows are behind this smear campaign. If this was me, I would consider creating a new Twitter account with a more unique handle.

 

[Impaired]

Idiots don't listen to reason.

 

[Interis]

@Impaired Unfortunately. If it were me, I'd go straight to police when they ignore my explanation. Some just can't be helped.

I am sorry I am just seeing this as it sounds like your friend is really getting harassed. Since this was posted a month ago, I am curious if you have an update?
If you haven't had any sort of resolution, I would sincerely encourage you to contact the police. This has elevated to cyberbullying and harrassment. You could always try contacting Twitter and reporting the offending people. I would also suggest blocking, but Twitter does this really stupid thing of allowing others to see that you blocked them, which in my humble opinion, only encourages worse behavior. Lastly, have your friend make sure that his Facebook account is buttoned up tight so that people can't "mine" information from public information. He also needs to consider who his friends are since it seems like people he knows are behind this smear campaign. If this was me, I would consider creating a new Twitter account with a more unique handle.

Thanks for the reply anyway. Things have calmed down quite much. He didn't directly contact the police, but he did consult with a friend's uncle who is a police officer. We did something similar to your ideas. We spread posts about how he was wrongly accused. We stopped responding to the idiots because it seemed to fuel them further. He stopped using social networks, locked his accounts, removed any info and pictures they could use. Perhaps a bit too late, but whatever. Looks like they got bored after a while or they were just scared after we consulted with an officer.

I can only imagine how much this traumatized him, but it's a very good lesson for us all. I'm considering deleting all my online accounts as well in case something stupid like this happens again. It's just not worth it.

 

[CubsMascot]

I know nothing about how Twitter works. But will say this much...This sounded like telemarketers. They keep calling and calling until they just stop.
You need to be so very careful what information you're willing to put out there about yourself.
Don't volunteer information unless required and make sure you believe you think it's a necessity.

 

[Impaired]

You cannot reason with an idiot, they will drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.