Don’t Be a Jerk.com

Being a jerk can get you into more trouble these days than you may think.

The FTC has recently filed suit against “Jerk.com,” alleging that the website scraped information from over 73 million Facebook profiles for private information and photographs, then deceptively told users that if they joined the site for a $30 fee, they could customize their profile from “jerk” to “not a jerk” and rebut comments people had made about them. Moreover, the site charged a customer service fee of $25 if someone asked for their profile to be removed.

Jerk.com claims “Jerk” profiles were created by other jerks. However, the membership numbers of “Jerk.com” indicate otherwise (roughly 3,000 to date), leading the FTC to believe all of the profiles were created by Jerk.com personnel, who created sites on Facebook that would give them more access to users profiles.

It may seem excessive for the federal government to be stepping in, but with people’s privacy and online presences becoming more and more important, and with the rise of awareness surrounding cyberbullying, maybe this is exactly the kind of behavior we want the powers-that-be keeping in check.

If Jerk.com did in fact breach Facebook accounts to create about 78 million Jerk profiles, and then lead consumers to believe they could pay one of two fees to rebut allegations of jerkiness, then the website should be held accountable for deceptive business practices. While using deceptive practices to lure consumers concerned with their online presence into spending money is one thing, some of the vulgar and aggressive content posted about “jerks” on the site raises an additional concern: cyberbullying. These concerns are only heightened in “Jerk.com” was behind the posts in an effort to bolster membership.

With a rise of suicides and other psychological harm associated with it, cyberbullying is becoming more and more criminalized. While there is currently no federal law on point, at least 19 states have addressed the point. With each new law, the message is becoming clear – if you are going to verbally abuse someone on the Internet, you will be liable.

And with the lack of federal criminal authority on the issue, perhaps the FTC taking what may otherwise be a small-potatoes case to say one thing: don’t be a jerk, and if you are, prepare to pay for it.