Blue Helm

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Blue Helm

Posts Tagged ‘law’

Scandal! Does that harmless Facebook doppelganger photo violate Terms of Service?

I am Bob Saget.

I am Bob Saget.

A recent craze has swept Facebook: Doppelganger Week (or is it Doppelganger Month? The fad has certainly lasted for more than a week). For those of you unfamiliar with the trend, Facebookers everywhere have replaced their normal profile pictures with photos of celebrity lookalikes. I was actually told by someone in middle school that I looked like Bob Saget. No, that doesn’t do wonders for a thirteen-year-old’s self-esteem, but it works great for a Facebook profile pic!

Unfortunately, Facebook’s Terms of Service could bust the party:

“You will not post content or take any action on Facebook that infringes or violates someone else’s rights or otherwise violates the law…We can remove any content or information you post on Facebook if we believe that it violates this Statement.”

That means that unless you took that celebrity photo yourself, you could be in violation of those terms. But not to worry, Facebook released a statement saying they haven’t received any complaints from celebrities and the site doesn’t plan on removing any doppelganger photos any time soon.

What a relief. Now I can turn my sights toward the next potential Facebook craze: Urban Dictionary Week.