Questions tagged [libel]
Defamation by written means
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What would one have to prove to use the truth defence in a libel claim of racism?
It is in the news that Laurence Fox is suing Simon Blake and Nicola Thorp for libel after they made allegations of racism.
There has been quite a lot of work in recent years about ingroup bias studied ...
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Is publishing defamatory statements from an "anonymous source" protected?
Say that Andy the Actor is minding his own business, when the Washington Post posts an article about him, claiming that, according to anonymous sources, Andy is a racist bigotted transphobe that has ...
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Which countries law applies in online defamation?
Let's say Person A who lives in Germany writes defamatory statements on Twitter, incorporated in the US, about Person B who lives in Thailand.
Person B suffers damage abroad as a result of the Tweets. ...
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Easy way to check if libel has been committed? [closed]
We have an article about someone's activities that I believe was written carefully to avoid libel:
http://pdacamp.com/Sam-Wolanyk-and-Tangod-Up-In-Blues/
Now the party in question is threatening to ...
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Is it libel if a company lies about being the first to achieve something?
If a company publishes false statements claiming that it was the first to achieve some notable technological milestone, or that it currently provides the most of some measurable service, can that ...
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What is the smallest audience for a communication that has been deemed capable of defamation?
Descriptions of the criteria for defamation seem widely to describe any statement that is communicated to a third party as being defamatory if they are (broadly speaking) false and harmful.
This seems ...
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Would it by libel if I told someone one of their friends is a thief?
Considering US law in general -
An associate (call him Patrick) stole a fair bit of money over several years. I eventually severed all business relations and blocked Patrick on all platforms. I have ...
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Can a group of people be libelled
If I was thinking of writing a blog where I refer to a group of people such as immigrants, as traitors, would that constitute libeling?
I was interested in any country's laws to see what people think....
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Is it ever illegal to spread true facts with malicious intent?
Crimes such as defamation usually require that the statement being said is false - truth is an absolute defense.
Are there any situations or jurisdictions where truth is not a defense against ...
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Memoirs - What's Allowed To Write About An Ex
I'm not famous. I've just had a very interesting life story so far. I wish to publish certain aspects of my life, it covers all aspects of my life and includes some chapters about significant ex-...
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Can private text messages be considered defamation in Canada? [closed]
I've had long chats via text messages with a friend, where I accused other people of sexually assaulting me (which was true, but I have no way of proving it really...), and mocking other people with ...
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Not sure if it's worth hiring a lawyer because not sure if what happened was illegal
Something recently happened to me that I'm not sure was legal. To give a high level overview I was accused of something I didn't do. An internal investigation found me guilty. The investigation was ...
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What is Reckless disregard for the Truth?
If a person falsely accuses a public figure of cheating at chess, then takes actions that costs the public figure monetary damage. If despite lack of evidence, the person has a bona fide belief that ...
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Which state's laws apply to online defamation?
If a libelous statement is posted online, and the victim and offender are from different states, which state would be more pertinent to the defamation case? I.e. which state's defamation laws, statue ...
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On the disclaimer about everything in a work being fictional
Sorry if I am putting this under the wrong tabs.
But I am writing a game and am concerned about inclusion of the statement that "This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents ...
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Why can't news organizations release the name of an accused person in Britain?
I noticed several news articles reporting that an unnamed sports star has been arrested for a serious crime. All the articles mention that the accused could not be named "for legal reasons". ...
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Can satire be libel?
Can a clearly marked satirical article claiming someone said something (which they did not) that would seriously damage the person's reputation be considered libel? For example, if Biden actually said ...
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Making specific accusations about non-specific people
Making accusations of a (serious) crime without evidence is, as far as I understand, illegal. If acusations are knowingly false, this is in fact a crime, of perverting the course of justice, otherwise ...
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Is it libel if you claim someone said something that they actually didn't?
What is the legal term for claiming someone said something they never actually did, basically, putting words in their mouth? Is it called libel? Is it some other legal term? Or is there no legal term ...
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Libel - imaginary situation: Name of Subject not at first known
X writes a malicious statement about Y on the internet, for instance accuses Y of a crime. Real name of Y isn't known at this moment of time, but it becomes known later. Does this still qualify as ...
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DHL messed up completely, then were very rude with me. Is it libel/defamation if I publish it on the web?
Some background first,
A few months ago I was living abroad and then came back to my hometown. When coming back, I sent myself a package which was full of all my daughter's first drawings from ...
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How to avoid being sued for a novel in USA and Canada
Suppose that an author is writing an autobiographical novel set in the USA and Canada. The author would like to avoid being sued for libel. The novel will be fictionalized, but it isn't flattering.
...
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What is required for a slander lawsuit?
Suppose there is a group of people being contacted by an outside agency at the business they are working at. The outside agency is lying about a particular employee's behavior and convincing this ...
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Is criticizing a public figure on a private chat libel?
X is currently involved in a legal battle with said ex-wife regarding child abuse by parental alienation of his child. X, with a friend in a similar position, created a private support group on ...
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Is it legal to divulge information about a company (kindergarten) online in Austria?
The situation is the following: We have made a very bad experience with a kindergarten in Vienna and would like to divulge (make public) the experience we made with this kindergarten.
This would ...
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Rudy Giuliani sued, why ask for $1.3b?
Rudy Giuliani has been sued. The plaintiffs are asking for S1.3 billion in compensation.
He doesn't have anything like that much money. His net worth is estimated to be $45 million.
Why are they ...
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As a Sex offender Can a person for take my Photo off my Facebook page, post it, giving my full name and address be charged or sued? [closed]
I pleaded guilty to a charge of child molestation over 15 years ago, served time and probation. I now have three girls 7,5,2 who I father on my own. My neighbor's daughter play's with my girls, who's ...
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What to expect when getting sued from abroad for libel?
I, a citizen and resident of the EU, wrote a biography of a British citizen who resides in England, and I published it on a popular online encyclopedia hosted in the United States. The subject of the ...
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Is Twitter liable for its content?
Twitter has allegedly censored a New York Post story alleging possible corruption by Hunter Biden and, by implication, Joe Biden in overseas business dealings.[1]
Sen. Ted Cruz on Thursday said ...
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How does one meet the "serious harm" threshold in libel cases (UK)?
I'm trying to sue someone in the UK for libel. (I'm in the US.) I've had some UK attorneys willing to take my case, but not on conditional fee. I recently contacted a pro bono organization there, and ...
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Is it libel if I reasonably believed it to be true?
Suppose I'm a major newspaper journalist. A rape occurs, and the police arrest the suspect. Bucking all journalistic trends, I run a story with the headline, "Rapist CAUGHT," not "...
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Is it legal to short a company's stock and then blog about why you did it?
In America, is it legal to short a company with which I never had any affiliation and then write a negative blog post about it affecting the company's stock price?
More specifically, suppose ...
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Is there a law that requires allegiance or respect to the Office of the President of the United States?
It has become common in America today to hear people refer to the President of the United States as "not-my-president". Is such a statement as saying that the head of our Executive Branch is "not-my-...
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I'm being defamed on Facebook. Do I have a legal case?
I live in Maryland.
Over the past few months there is a guy on Facebook who has been openly lying about me.
He has repeatedly said that I have made threats against him, I have not.
He has repeatedly ...
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Am I responsible for stopping potentially libellous posts being submitted to a Facebook group I am an admin of?
If a member of a Facebook group that I am an administrator for posts something, in this instance an accusation of criminal wrongdoing, that is then reported by another user as being a lie, or ...
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Why didn't Nicholas Sandman name any individuals in his lawsuit against the Washington Post?
Why didn't Nicholas Sandman (Sandmann v. WP Company LLC, Dist. Court, ED Kentucky 2019) name the individuals working at the Washington Post who published the alleged libelous statements, as parties to ...
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Sue newspaper or the reporter for libel?
Are there any reasons to only sue a newspaper (the corporation) for libel and not the individual reporter who libeled you?
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Is a statement libel if it is in response to a false statement
If someone were to make a statement that was known to be false, and someone else makes a defamatory remark in response to that comment, is it considered libel?
Say you review a restaurant negatively ...
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Libel complaint against publishing company d/b/a/ as newspaper [duplicate]
A newspaper defamed a Plaintiff. The newspaper is the business name of a publishing company (ie. the publishing company d/b/a/ the newspaper). Can the Plaintiff write the following in his or her ...
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Scope of the false statement in a libel action
Given the statement, "John failed to respond to a criminal court summons, and he moved out of the state."
Assuming that it is false that John failed to respond to a criminal court summons, but it is ...
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How many counts of libel for the false statement: "John is at-large from assault charges"?
Assuming that John has neither been charged with assault nor is evading such charges: Can John sue for two separate counts of libel (one for claiming that he is charged with a crime and one for ...
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Can a single false statement give rise to two separate causes of action i.e. counts in a lawsuit?
Is it possible under US libel for a single false statement to give rise to two separate causes of action (i.e. counts) in a lawsuit?
If the answer is yes, what would be some examples of this?
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Using interrogatory or depo to ask libel defendant what facts she relied on in making statement
In a libel case, should I ask the publisher of the statement what facts she relied on in deposition or via interrogatory? I'm concerned that since an interrogatory can be supplemented, that her ...
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Could libel have legal action taken if the would be defendent was using a VPN that goes to another country?
Normally, if someone writes libelous material about somebody online, they are traced by name and/or IP address. But, let’s say there are neither. So, someone wants to accuse someone of using meth on ...
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Is a CEO of a company a de facto public figure?
In other words, does a CEO share the same protections as a private citizen against slander/libel if the CEO only appears to the public (in interviews, shows, etc.) as a representative of the company ...
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Can libel/defamation be identified in private publications?
In the UK, I contacted a company called Tech Nation to provide an "endorsement" for me where they were supposed to assess my skill level, contributions to the sector and achievements so that I could ...
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In Canada, can you be sued if you specifically name a salesperson in a poor review?
Say that I did business with Acme Corporation and my salesperson was John Smith. I want to write a review of my service that specifically says "John Smith was not a good sales person" in my online ...
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When can you avoid libel by preceding a false statement with "Sources say" or "I heard"?
Suppose the New York Times writes "Sources say the celebrity John Doe raped his daughter"
and they truly found two anonymous people (i.e., two sources) beforehand with that claim.
How responsible is ...
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Impersonation - promoting contents to make it look like it's coming from someone else
We have 2 people, person A and person B.
Let's say person A decides to fabricate contents and made it look like it came from person B and promoted it to anyone and everyone.
Person A made it look to ...
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Is it libel of one merely shares libelous material written by others?
Can one be punished / successfully sued for sharing libelous material written by someone else? For example, I read on a news website that John Doe committed a horrible crime. If I share this article, ...
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