Telkom vs Hellkom: Twitter style
A user claiming to be the person behind a parody Twitter account poking fun at Telkom, @Not_Telkom, has said that they have received a legal threat from Telkom.
Identifying himself as Stuart Steedman, the user said that he originally started the account under the name @Telkom_Cares.
The first tweet in the account’s timeline is dated 9 November 2011 and states: “My name is Bryce, and I work as a technician at Telkom. Some executive told me I had to create a Twitter account for Telkom. Lord help them.”
According to the user, within a week or two he had received two complaints via Twitter that suggested he change the username and logo to @Not_Telkom.
A tweet dated 29 November 2011 which said, “Twitter made me change my username, since not even they could believe that Telkom Cares” seems to corroborate this.
Tweet from Not_Telkom Twitter account
After changing the username and logo the user said he received an email that appeared to come from Telkom. Posting under the username “nonsapiens,” he said that the email went as follows:
Dear Mr. Steedman,
It has come to our attention that you have been operating, or are the owner of a Twitter account (@Not_Telkom) that bears the likeness of Telkom Group South Africa, including but not limited to, the use of the Telkom ‘Dialpad’ logo. Initial examination of the contents and postings of this account indicate messages of a defamatory nature, designed to mislead readers into thinking that these are communications by or endorsed by the Telkom Group South Africa, and cast the actions of Telkom, its services and its employees in a somewhat negative light. We take the protection of our brand seriously, and therefore request that you cease operations on said Twitter account within seven (7) working days. Additionally, we would request that subsequently, the account be deactivated permanently so that previous messages are not publicly visible.
Telkom Group South Africa can and may explore a variety of remedial options, including the resolution of this matter through whatever legal channels are available to us, although we trust that this should not need to be an option if the abovementioned is attended to.
Yours faithfully, P. Chetty (Public Communications)
P. Chetty refers to Telkom’s “Senior Specialist: Media Relations”, Pynee Chetty.
Hellkom all over again?
In 2004 Telkom threatened legal action against the well known parody website Hellkom. However, Telkom’s legal threats resulted in a barrage of bad publicity for the company, and ended with Telkom withdrawing the threats with costs.
It would therefore be surprising if Telkom decided to, once again, revert to use legal scare tactics against the Twitter account holder.
Not_Telkom Twitter account
Telkom denies sending email
Asked whether Telkom sent the email and if they are considering legal action, Telkom spokesperson Praveen Naidoo said, “Telkom did not send this email and therefore has no comment on this matter.”
Telkom’s denial that they sent any legal threats to the Twitter account holder raises questions about the real story behind the account and the Reddit post.
Is “nonsapiens” even Steedman? A bit of searching revealed that the Stuart Steedman in question uses “nonsapiens” elsewhere on the Internet as well.
If it is Steedman behind the Reddit post and the Twitter account, did he lie about the legal threat for publicity, or did Telkom lie when they denied sending the email?
Steedman may have been able to shed light on the story, but despite trying to contact him at work, on his mobile number, and through online channels, MyBroadband was not able to get comment from him.
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