The Tribune

POLICE yesterday confirmed that the person responsible for the “Nassau Cheaters” Facebook page is being questioned over alleged defamatory comments and pictures posted on the social media network.

Although Sergeant Dale Stratchan of the Cyber Crimes Unit, who is investigating the claims, said other details could not be given at this time, he urged Facebook users to refrain from posting comments that could hurt the reputation of others.

Mr Stratchan said: “It is an offence to publish defamatory statements of persons on social media sites.

“A person can get about two years in prison for that kind of crime if they are found guilty. I would remind persons as well that if information is posted about them they can report it to Facebook and if they find that comments are negative they can either take the content down or shut down the entire group, because that is a breach of their policies.”

The issue of defamation on website came to light on Monday when an anonymous police officer called The Tribune alleging that pictures of Bahamians were being posted with false accusations against them.

The officer said that most recently a mother of one was brutally beaten by her partner after the page administrator posted a picture of the partner and accused him of being a dead beat dad.

“Because I am an officer with access to sensitive information,” she said, “I cannot reveal my identity, but recently we had a young woman come in to make a complaint on her child’s father who beat her up so badly because he believed that she put a false story on Facebook. The woman said that she’d never say something like that because the guy is a great father to their child or post it on Facebook for the world to see.

“People need to know that the information on this page is not true,” she said. “The crime and murder rate in this country is already high as it is. I believe this page will only contribute to innocent lives being lost or baseless altercations to take place. People need to be warned about what this person is doing.” 

Attempts by targeted persons to defend themselves against the allegations posted on the page, she said, have not been successful.

“People who try to speak up on the site, or even try to set the record straight about themselves, have been blocked and reported as spam by him. I myself made a fictitious account and proceeded to tell him that he was out of line and that what he is doing is wrong. He blocked me and reported me as spam. Others have done the same and have not been successful,” she said.