LONDON – Britain’s prosecution service says people could be charged if they create fake online profiles in order to harass or humiliate others.

The Crown Prosecution Service says it is updating its guidelines to reflect “new and emerging crimes” in the social media age.

Director of Public Prosecutions Alison Saunders said on Thursday (March 3) that “we are seeing more and more cases where social media is being used as a method to facilitate both existing and new offenses,” including domestic abuse and violence against women.

The new guidelines say that it may be an offense to create a fake online profile in someone else’s name in order to “damage their reputation and humiliate them.”

Prosecutors are starting a six-week public consultation on revising the rules for online crime, which were last updated in 2012. AP