Question
A and B knew each other previously, and they had contacted each other several times on Twitter and had also met in person. However, afterward, B created another account containing false information and made statements about me that could be considered defamatory.
The account's posts were retweeted more than 30 times, and the account's owner also retweeted them more than 10 times from their main account.
I have continued using Twitter under the same username, and I have also met and taken photos with people I got to know through Twitter in real life. Some of the people who follow my main account and were acquainted with me on Twitter are also connected to the account that is criticizing me, and I have met some of them in person.
My Twitter username is unique and is the only account that appears when my username is searched on Twitter. I also post photos from my Twitter account on Instagram and in relevant online communities, where I use the same Twitter username.
In this situation, how can I establish the connection between my username, the defamatory posts, and the photos appearing in those posts in order to establish that I was identifiable as the target? Also, would the fact that I promoted my Twitter account on Instagram and in relevant online communities while posting my photos there satisfy the requirement that the victim be identifiable?
In addition, a person who had known me before this incident can identify my name, age, and phone number simply by looking at my photos. Could this also be considered sufficient to identify me as a specific person through a third party?
Answer
Based on the circumstances you described, it appears that the other person publicly defamed you by posting false information through an information and communications network, and the crime of defamation under the Information and Communications Network Act—commonly referred to as cyber defamation—would likely be established.
Furthermore, if many of your online acquaintances can identify you based solely on your username, and the other person wrote or retweeted defamatory statements together with that username or photographs or other expressions that could identify you, it would be reasonable to consider you sufficiently identifiable as the target of the statements.
However, an accurate determination would require reviewing the specific content of the tweets and determining whether your acquaintances actually understand the username to refer to you. The relevant social media posts would therefore need to be examined in detail.