Social Media and Defamation
With the advent of the social media age, anyone can tweet a statement to the world or post it on Facebook for all to see. But what if your tweet or post is defaming someone? It is important to understand what defamation is, so you are aware if someone may be defaming you. It’s also important to be aware of how to avoid defaming others.
What Is Defamation?
Defamation is when a person says or writes a statement about you to a third person and the statement would cause a reasonable person to think less of you.
There are three main elements to defamation:
- A person needs to publicly make a statement to a third party. This statement can either be spoken or written;
- The statement must be able to identify the defamed person; and
- It must be ‘defamatory’, which means that the statement would cause a reasonable person to think of the defamed in the way spoken or written.
The material can be published in different ways, including a Facebook post, newspaper article, verbal conversation or text message.
Defences for Defamation
There are several defences to a claim in defamation, which include:
- Truth – if the allegations made by the defamer is truthful;
- Fair comment – if the statement relates to a matter of public interest; or
- Triviality – if the statement made would cause no real harm to the defamed.
Seeking Advice for Defamation
Stephen Dank, controversial sport scientist, learnt about pursuing defamation the hard way. You may win some aspects of a defamation case and still have to pay all legal costs associated with the trial. In Dank’s case against Nationwide News (The Daily Telegraph and the Sunday Telegraph), these costs were in excess of $2 million!
It is important to seek legal advice on defamation. A solicitor can inform you of any potential remedies. Furthermore we can advise you whether your matter is worthy of pursuing. To discuss your potential defamation matter, please get in touch.