Every second, on average, 6,000 tweets are published on Twitter – that’s 500 million tweets per day. Of these millions of tweeters, how many are considering defamation law when they retweet? Probably not many. And yet, one click of a button could land you into legal trouble. Read the rest of this entry »
The first defendant owned and ran an internet forum, Aussie Stock Forums, used to discuss topics related to the stock market and investments. The second defendant was its sole director and shareholder. He left a comment on the forum in response to a request for information about Australian Shareholder Centre PL (ASC), who, together with its owner, Mr Jones, ultimately sued him and the website owner for defamation, injurious falsehood and misleading or deceptive conduct in contravention of the Australian Consumer Law. Read the rest of this entry »
On 8 November 2018, Mr Justice Warby handed down judgment in the case of Price v MGN Ltd [2018] EWHC 3014 (QB). The proceedings relate to three articles (copies of which are annexed [pdf] to the judgment) which made serious imputations about the Claimant’s alleged participation in the illegal accessing of the mobile phone records of journalists who were investigating him when he was the Chief Constable of Cleveland Police (the “Interception Meanings”). Read the rest of this entry »
On Tuesday and Wednesday 13 and 14 November 2018, the Supreme Court (Lords Kerr, Wilson, Sumption, Hodge and Briggs) will hear the appeal in Lachaux (Respondent) v Independent Print Limited and another (Appellants) UKSC 2017/0175, against the Court of Appeal decision of Davis LJ, with whom MacFarlane and Sharp LJJ concurred ([2017] EWCA Civ 1334). Read the rest of this entry »
In statement in open court [pdf] read before Mr Justice Warby yesterday, 24 October 2018, Newsquest Media Group, the publishers of the Argus Newspaper in Brighton, apologised to a Libyan man arrested after the Manchester bombing pilot over an article alleging that he was an ISIS sympathiser who had publicly mourned the death of an ISIS leader. Read the rest of this entry »
Facebook attack on Mayor of Narrabri … $100,000 damages … Whether posts had been published … Extent of readership … Defences of common law and statutory qualified privilege rejected … No malice, just “stupidity, bias and carelessness” … Injunction … “Liking” is not the same as publishing a post … Stephen Murray reports. Read the rest of this entry »
Lukewarm response to Scottish Law Reform Commission’s report on defamation reform … Little movement … Not enough libelling going on … Defamation case against former leader splits the Scottish Labour Party … Homophobia collides with independence for Scotland … Nick Bonyhady reports. Read the rest of this entry »
