Question
Untitled item
S5W-20482 · Written Question · lodged by McAlpine, Joan
Lodged on
07 Dec 2018Heard / answered on
20 Dec 2018To ask the Scottish Government how “catfishing” could be appropriately punished as a crime.
The answer
While there is no specific criminal offence of ‘catfishing’, there are a number of offences that may be used to prosecute someone who engages in the practice of ‘catfishing’, depending on the individual facts and circumstances of each case.
For example, our criminal law of fraud may offer protection to victims who have been induced by a ‘catfisher’ to do something they would not otherwise have done for a practical result, as a consequence of the false pretence of ‘catfisher.’
More generally, there are a number of offences which can be used to prosecute someone who engages in bullying, harassment or predatory behaviour, which may be associated with ‘catfishing.’ These include the offence of ‘threatening or abusive behaviour’ under section 38 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 and the offence of ‘improper use of public electronic communications network’ under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003. Where someone uses the internet to send unwanted sexual communications, this may be prosecuted using the offences of communicating indecently or coercing a person to view a sexual image, by virtue of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009.
For example, our criminal law of fraud may offer protection to victims who have been induced by a ‘catfisher’ to do something they would not otherwise have done for a practical result, as a consequence of the false pretence of ‘catfisher.’
More generally, there are a number of offences which can be used to prosecute someone who engages in bullying, harassment or predatory behaviour, which may be associated with ‘catfishing.’ These include the offence of ‘threatening or abusive behaviour’ under section 38 of the Criminal Justice and Licensing (Scotland) Act 2010 and the offence of ‘improper use of public electronic communications network’ under section 127 of the Communications Act 2003. Where someone uses the internet to send unwanted sexual communications, this may be prosecuted using the offences of communicating indecently or coercing a person to view a sexual image, by virtue of the Sexual Offences (Scotland) Act 2009.
Answered by Humza Yousaf on 20 Dec 2018.