Main menu:
News
World boxing champion takes action against Facebook and imposters on Facebook
Boxing promoter Frank Warren in conjunction with Amir Khan, the WBA light welterweight boxing champion, are threatening legal action against the owners of social networking site Facebook for allowing people to use their image and name to link their sites to the boxer and promoter through bogus sites that in some instances contain racist and defamatory content.
Leeds-based specialist sports and media lawyer Stephen Taylor Heath of Lupton Fawcett has been instructed to act on their behalf against Facebook and also the posters of the imposter sites.
Stephen Taylor Heath said: "Facebook allows users to create pages on the site with information and pictures on themselves, and to communicate with friends and contacts. Unfortunately, Amir and Frank are an example of well-known people who have become the victim of posters creating pages on the site using their name and image to draw attention to their derogatory remarks. Some pages are nothing more than tribute sites for the celebrity in question but fans searching for a celebrity may come across pages they wrongly think have a direct link to the celebrity so that they can communicate and make friends with their favourite celebrities. A further problem is that when you search for a celebrity on the site you also come across pages using the celebrity's name and image that have no official link but in some instances are full of defamatory and racist content.
"At the moment the owners of Facebook do not seem to be taking the problems seriously. We have written to them outlining our concerns but all we received was a standard acknowledgement. We are still awaiting a response from their legal department!"
Clarification : 12 September 2009
Lupton Fawcett can clarify that it has been instructed by boxing promoter Frank Warren to take action against Facebook for content on the site making reference to Frank Warren and to take issue with remarks made with regard to Amir Khan who he promotes.
Lupton Fawcett have been advised that Facebook has removed certain content relating to Amir Khan and Frank Warren and banned certain posters from it's site. We are currently reviewing the action taken by Facebook.
We are advised that Amir Khan does not wish to pursue a personal action against Facebook.
Stephen Taylor Heath is the Head of Sports and Media Law at Lupton Fawcett. To e-mail Stephen please click here or to visit Stephen's biography, please click here