ORLANDO, Fla. – A 5-year student at the University of Central Florida told News 6 his reputation was ruined after racial slurs linked to his name went viral reaching “about 1 million people.”
“Alex” Bugay said the racially charged posts on X (formerly Twitter) were directed at Georgia State Representative Mesha Mainor after she announced she was joining the Republican party this past July. But he says the account wasn’t his.
“I just didn’t know how to react and I was scared,” Bugay told News 6. “I think there are a lot of lessons we can learn from an incident like this.”
The posts, too vulgar for print, included Bugay’s name, email, and phone number.
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Mainor reposted the messages and that triggered a wave of criticism against Bugay on X. Mainor later investigated the posts and determined Bugay had nothing to do with it.
Mainor posted in part: “I apologize to Alex for the harm this may have caused him.”
Bugay’s father, Florida attorney Scott Bugay, told News 6 they think existing federal law should be amended to include protection of a person’s reputation.
“As parents, it’s devastating for us to watch our son’s reputation be tarnished,” he said. “The (federal) statute should make absolutely clear reputation is a form of identity theft.”
The current Federal Law 18 USC 1028 does not address the protection of a person’s reputation on social media, or the internet.
Congressman Darren Soto, D-Kissimmee, told News 6 he would review our reporting and issue a statement after that.
If you have an issue involving identity theft email makeendsmeet@wkmg.com or text the words make ends meet along with the issue and your contact information to 407-676-7428.
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