Austin Police Shut Down Fake Twitter Page
Patrick George, Austin AMERICAN-STATESMAN:
After complaints from the City of Austin and the Texas attorney general’s office, the social networking site Twitter has shut down a fake account that pretended to issue Austin Police Department bulletins with official-sounding messages that included “warming up my radar gun for SXSWi.”
The “AustinPD” page had about 450 followers. It was created in 2008 and used the official City of Austin seal. The page now states that the account “has been suspended due to strange activity.”
Twitter did not immediately return calls and e-mails for comment Monday, but according to its Web site, impersonation violates its terms of agreement.
City and state officials issued a statement Monday saying they had contacted the San Francisco-based company and asked it to suspend the account, citing a Texas law that prohibits individuals from impersonating public servants. The attorney general’s office, which investigates those who use the Internet to impersonate police officers, also asked Twitter officials to preserve records on the AustinPD user.
Anne Morgan, Austin’s chief of litigation, said officials don’t know the identity of the user or whether the user is local. She said the city isn’t pursuing criminal charges at this time.
The Twitter page, shut down last week, featured fictitious updates about police activities and statistics. Updates included “we’re looking to make more stops at SXSW this year than last” as well as “187 on the west side,” which refers to a California legal code for murder often used in hip-hop lyrics.
“Although some may dismiss the site as a simple prank or minor irritant, the fact is that the information presented was false and misleading and could lead to unwarranted concern by the public,” Police Chief Art Acevedo said in a statement Monday.
