Porn Star Rhyheim Shabazz’s Twitter Account Pulled Down Due To False DMCA Claims Filed Against Him

While filing a false DMCA against someone is considered perjury and can lead to civil penalties, that didn’t stop one deranged Twitter user from filing multiple false DMCAs against gay porn star Rhyheim Shabazz.

Shabazz—a newcomer and wildly popular fan favorite who rose to superstar status this year as he interacted daily with over 300,000 followers—had his Twitter account pulled down over the weekend due to the fraudulent DMCAs, with the anonymous filer falsely claiming to Twitter that Shabazz’s own photos and videos aren’t his, and his tweets containing those photos and videos were therefore in violation of U.S. copyright law.

Here’s what Shabazz’s Twitter account looks like right now:

And here, for example, is a screenshot of one of Rhyheim Shabazz’s tweets—containing a photo of himself—that was falsely reported for copyright violation:

The DMCA claimed that Rhyheim Shabazz infringed on someone else’s copyright by posting the photo that he took of himself, which is obviously insane. But, Twitter (like most websites and web hosting services) accepts DMCA claims without verifying their authenticity (or the authenticity of the person filing them), and they removed the photo of Shabazz from Shabazz’s account. Twitter sent Shabazz this message notifying him of the removal:

The false DMCA is included in the takedown notice sent to Shabazz, and in it, the person who committed perjury with the fake claim says his name is “Tony Frank.” The phony address “Frank” provided comes up as a McDonald’s restaurant in Atlanta. The telephone number—which has been redacted below, since it does belong to someone (just not anyone with the name “Tony Frank”)—and email address provided are also fake, as is the locked Twitter account linked in the claim that’s falsely named as the original owner of Shabazz’s photo of himself. Here’s the false DMCA:

While one DMCA (false or not) shouldn’t be getting someone’s entire account pulled down (Twitter can just remove the reported content in individual tweets), the lunatic harassing Shabazz has actually filed at least four different DMCAs on Shabazz’s account, claiming that several of Shabazz’s own videos don’t belong to him. It’s presumed that because of the DMCA bombardment, Twitter opted to pull down Shabazz’s entire account, rather than deal with one tweet at a time.

Here was another false DMCA, which claimed that Shabazz’s own video of himself didn’t belong to him. The filer used the fake name “Libon Bacchus” on this one, and gave a fake address pointing to a building near Times Square in New York:

Shabazz has filed a DMCA Counter Notice with Twitter to dispute the false DMCAs filed against him, and the person harassing him with those fake filings now has 10 days to file a court order proving that the alleged copyrighted content is his. Since the deranged cyberstalker obviously can’t do that, Twitter will hopefully be able to reinstate Shabazz’s account once the 10 days have passed and the fake DMCAs are considered null.

As a prolific fan content creator whose primary connection to those fans is via Twitter, the harassment and false claims have to be disruptive, to say the least. But Shabazz has taken the (hopefully) temporary suspension in stride.

“It comes with the territory, and it’s not unexpected,” Shabazz told Str8Up. “I’ve gotten advice from followers in terms of reaching out to Twitter, so hopefully there’s some sort of resolution coming in my favor.” He added, “Either way, I’m not stressed about it.”

In terms of who is behind the false DMCAs, there are several theories floating around on Twitter (many are claiming the perpetrator is a deeply disturbed performer who’s been jealous of Shabazz’s success).