Newspapers are reporting that St. Louis Cardinals baseball manager Tony La Russa is suing Twitter, claiming an unauthorized page using his name damaged his reputation and caused emotional distress.
The suit filed last month in the Superior Court of California in San Francisco seeks unspecified damages.
The lawsuit claims that someone created a false account under La Russa’s name and posted updates that gave the false impression that the comments came from La Russa. The suit said the comments were “derogatory and demeaning” and damaged La Russa’s trademark rights.
The account bearing La Russa’s name is no longer active.
La Russa’s lawsuit said the page bearing his name was hurtful to the 64-year-old manager, who has led the Cardinals since 1996 and also managed the Chicago White Sox and Oakland A’s during a 30-year managerial career.
Fake Twitter accounts is a big worry for Twitter. If Twitter users cannot be sure that users are who they say they are, then trust in the service will disappear and brands will start to look for other avenues to communicate with customers. This is one of the reasons there has been an increase in the number of brands putting together their own soical networks in recent weeks.
RT @airplanemancf RT @Lynn0727 St. Louis Cardinals baseball manager sues regarding false Twitter Profile http://bit.ly/e4dey Thanks Ly …