Skip to main content

PROTECTING THE RIGHT TO IDENTITY AGAINST CATFISHING: WHAT’S THE CATCH?

Lisa Ndyulo (2023) — Obiter

Citation activity

Total citations · Google Scholar
6
Average per calendar year
1.5

Count checked .

6 citations ÷ 4 calendar years (2023–2026). The first and last years may be partial. This is a lifetime average, not a year-by-year citation history.

Counts reflect Google Scholar’s coverage and do not measure research quality. Source, calculation and limitations

View Original Source (opens in a new tab)

DOI: 10.17159/obiter.v44i2.14305 (opens in a new tab)

Type:   Journal Article
Country:   Global
Tags:   AI-Enabled Fraud, Catfishing, Comparative Law, Cross Cultural, Cybercrimes Act, Image Misappropriation, Online Impersonation, Right To Identity, Social Media Law, Victim Experience
What do these research terms mean?
Preprint
A manuscript shared before formal peer review and publication. Check whether a later published version is available.
Dataset
A collection of data or examples for others to inspect or reuse. It can appear in Library search and topic mapping, but RSRC does not use dataset records as evidence in Research Insights.
Dissertation or thesis
Research submitted for an academic degree. This describes its format, not its reliability.
Journal article
An article published in a journal. This label alone does not establish peer review, study quality, or how well the findings apply elsewhere.
Qualitative research
Examines experiences, meanings, or processes, often through interviews or observations. It can explain how something happens without estimating how common it is.
Quantitative research
Uses numerical measurements to describe patterns or test relationships. A relationship between two measurements does not by itself show that one causes the other.
Systematic review
Uses a planned, documented method to find and assess research addressing a question. Its conclusions still depend on the included studies and what the search covered.
Meta-analysis
Statistically combines results from multiple studies. Combining studies does not remove weaknesses in their design or make unlike populations interchangeable.
Not classified
This record has no recognized label in this filter. It does not mean the publication used no method, or that no research exists.

Definitions draw on DataCite resource types; Cochrane review methods; NLM: association and causation. RSRC’s dataset and classification rules are explained in our methodology.

Citation tools
Download RIS Download BibTeX 


              
              

            

          

        


      

      

    

        
Transparency

        
Evidence and review status

        
This page contains AI-generated content. No human content review or subject-matter-expert review is recorded.

    


    

                    

                
Source basis

                

                    Downloaded PDF
                

            

                    

                
Source updates

                

                    No notice found at last check
                

            

                    

                
AI-generated page content

                

                    Yes
                

            

                    

                
Automated checks

                

                    Passed
                

            

                    

                
Administrative approval

                

                    Yes
                

            

                    

                
Human content review

                

                    Not recorded
                

            

                    

                
Subject-matter-expert review

                

                    Not recorded
                

            

            


    

        
            How this was prepared
        
        

                            

                    
Source basis

                    

                    
RSRC downloaded and privately stored a copy of the paper for internal analysis. The PDF is not offered to viewers from this page.


                                            
    
                                                            
  • 
                                    PDF added to RSRC:
                                    
                                
    • 
                                                    

                    
                                        

                

                            

                    
Source updates

                    

                    
No incoming update notice was found in the dated Crossref response. Coverage is incomplete, particularly for corrections and expressions of concern; this is not a guarantee that the source is valid or unchanged.


                                            
    
                                                            
  • 
                                    Last source-status attempt:
                                    
                                
    • 
                                                    

                    
                                        

                

                            

                    
AI-generated page content

                    

                    
AI-generated research notes displayed on this page: Synopsis, Identified gaps, Methods, Limitations, Future work. The paper itself is not described as AI-generated.


                                            
    
                                                            
  • 
                                    Document analysis recorded:
                                    
                                
    • 
                                                            
  • 
                                    Synopsis generation recorded:
                                    
                                
    • 
                                                            
  • 
                                    Page record updated:
                                    
                                
    • 
                                                    

                    
                                        

                

                            

                    
Automated checks

                    

                    
The current, source-bound synopsis passed the recorded versioned publication checks.


                                            
    
                                                            
  • 
                                    Checks completed:
                                    
                                
    • 
                                                    

                    
                                            

                            
                                View passed checks (3)
                            
                            
    
                                                                    
  • Length, completeness, repetition, refusal, boilerplate, and active-markup screening
    • 
                                                                    
  • Numerical claims checked against the available source text
    • 
                                                                    
  • English-source lexical grounding check
    • 
                                                            

                        

                                        

                

                            

                    
Administrative approval

                    

                    
An authenticated administrator approved the bibliographic record for public Library display. This is not a review of every research claim.


                                            
    
                                                            
  • 
                                    Approved for public display:
                                    
                                
    • 
                                                    

                    
                                        

                

                            

                    
Human content review

                    

                    
No human review is recorded for the AI-generated content displayed on this page.


                    
                                        

                

                            

                    
Subject-matter-expert review

                    

                    
RSRC has not recorded review of this content by a subject-matter or methods expert.


                    
                                        

                

                    

    


    

        Review-state definitions

        Found a possible error?
        Request a correction.
    



    



              

        
                  

            
Synopsis

            
The publication examines catfishing as a legal issue in South Africa, focusing on how using a person’s image without consent to create a fake profile threatens the right to identity and the related dignity of individuals. It explains catfishing as online impersonation that harms a victim by misusing an identifiable facet of personality, namely appearance or image, and discusses how South African courts balance this against freedom of expression. The author surveys how catfishing is addressed in the United States, highlighting California and Oklahoma where both statutory and common-law remedies exist for online impersonation and catfishing, including civil and criminal provisions. A central aim is to assess whether South African victims have adequate remedies. The analysis compares US approaches with South Africa’s legal landscape, noting that the Cybercrimes Act may not clearly protect identity features and may not directly cover catfishing where the injury is the misappropriation of image used to mislead others. The article contends that, in practice, victims in SA may pursue damages under the common-law actio iniuriarum or seek an interdict to halt ongoing infringing conduct. It also discusses the potential gaps in platform takedown processes and the limits of relying on cyberfraud provisions, since catfishing may not fit neatly within statutory definitions of computer data storage or interference. Overall, the article concludes that California and Oklahoma offer more explicit, adequate remedies for online impersonation and catfishing than currently available in South Africa, while SA could rely on traditional delictual and interdictory options, with uncertain applicability of the Cybercrimes Act to identity misappropriation.

          

        
                  

            
Identified Gaps

            
South African law has no formal legal definition or express regulation of catfishing. The article identifies uncertainty over whether the Cybercrimes Act protects people whose images are used in fake profiles. It also identifies a common-law gap: misappropriation requires commercial gain, although catfishing may be motivated by noncommercial reasons such as seeking romance, friendship, anonymity, or jest.

          

        
                  

            
Methods

            
This is a comparative doctrinal legal analysis. It examines South African common-law identity protections and the Cybercrimes Act, then compares them with statutory and common-law protections in California and Oklahoma. The analysis considers legal definitions, statutes, cases, privacy torts, right-of-publicity rules, damages claims, and interdicts available to people whose images are used in catfish profiles.

          

        
                  

            
Limitations

            
The analysis is limited to victims whose images are used without consent, rather than third parties deceived by catfish accounts. The United States comparison is limited to California and Oklahoma. The article also notes that South African courts have not yet decided the application of Cybercrimes Act section 8 to catfishing, so conclusions on that provision remain interpretive.

          

        
                  

            
Future Work

            
Future research could examine how South African courts interpret and apply section 8 of the Cybercrimes Act to catfishing, particularly where the person depicted is not the direct target of fraud. It could also assess whether explicit statutory online-impersonation protections would address gaps left by common-law remedies.

          

              

    
    

        
Related Research Insights

        

            See how this publication connects to RSRC's living evidence syntheses through current citations and research-topic mapping.