This is the last article in the series on social media and defamation. You can read the previous articles here: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3 and Part 4. So far I’ve dealt with the following requirements in order to prove defamation: (1) reference to the...
Social media & defamation Part 4 – wrongful (‘unlawful’), blameworthy, fault & public policy
Before you read this article, make sure you have read Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 of this series. Having established intention, what is the next requirement? The following has to be established in order to determine whether or not we are dealing with...
Social media & defamation Part 3 – intention to defame (Animus Injuriandi)
Before you read this article, make sure you have read Part 1 and Part 2 of this series. This is a challenging requirement and much debated. It would seem that the courts will sometimes go beyond intention and find that negligence or at least...
Social media & defamation Part 2 – what must be proved & who has to prove it (burden of proof)?
Before I deal with the Terms & conditions (‘T&C’) e.g. Facebook, etc, I think we need to get to grips with defamation and to do so we need to ‘unpack’ (1) the definition I used in the first article, (2) potential damages (claims) and then...
Social media & defamation Part 1 – tread warily!
As we are all no doubt quite aware, social media has to a large extent become the medium of choice not only to publicize and disseminate information but also to glean information. Due to the ubiquitous nature of the social media and the fact that...