Catfishing: assuming a false identity on social networking platforms and its legal-criminal consequences
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Abstract
This article aims to discuss the legal issues associated with the use of false profiles on social networking platforms, to verify whether this conduct represents a criminal infraction in the Brazilian legal system. To this end, this study seeks to answer the following question-problem: “Does assuming a false identity on social networking platforms configure the crime of false identity provided for in the Brazilian regulatory system?” To answer this question, this research aims, first, to present operational concepts related to social networking platforms and statistical data involving the use of this type of information and communication technology. Next, the study analyzes a conduct known as catfishing as a practical representation of assuming a false identity in a virtual environment, exposing concrete cases, presenting the origin of the term, and its connection with social networking platforms. After providing an overview of catfishing, this research evaluates whether this conduct constitutes a crime of false identity from the perspective of the Brazilian regulatory system. To achieve the proposed objectives, this research implements an inductive method, with a qualitative approach, and technical bibliographic and documentary research procedures. As a result, the study identified that catfishing, understood as assuming a false identity in a virtual environment, is directly related to the specific use of social networking platforms for deceptive purposes and that, although it is widely present in these environments, it does not in itself constitute a criminal offense in the Brazilian legal system. However, the study found that this practice may fall under a criminal type of false identity, provided for in Article 307 of the Criminal Code. This is so if the agent’s malice is proven by taking on a false identity to obtain some kind of advantage or cause harm. Researchers observed that criminal liability requires a contextualized analysis of the conduct, taking into account intentionality, which evidences the complexity of the issue and the need for greater legislative and doctrinal attention in the face of new forms of digital interaction.
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