Media law week 9 part 1 - defamation

What is the law that covers defamation, in which court and what does it protect people from?

the Defamation Act 2013 – this updated the Defamation Act 1996

It protects people from unjustified attacks on their reputation in civil court (high court) and is usually only heard by judges

What must you prove in order to sue someone for defamation?

Defamation, identification, publication
You must prove ‘serious harm’ has been caused
If you are a company you must prove ‘serious financial loss’ eg loss of earnings or customers

What does libel mean?

the publication of a statement in written or any other permanent form, which affects the reputation of a person, company or organisation
• Permanent form includes: a statement, text, tweet or broadcast

What is slander?

a defamatory statement in a transient (spoken) form – no permanent record of it

What does a statement do if it defamatory?

-Causes someone to be shunned or avoided
• Lowers them in the estimation of right-thinking members of society generally
• Exposes them to hatred, ridicule or contempt
• Disparages them in their business, office, trade or profession

What is the standard of proof?

Standard of proof is the civil standard – so on the balance of probabilities

What are the remedies of defamation?

damages £££ – remember though court costs also have to be paid for both parties

Name a case of defamation?

Vardy v Rooney – Wagatha Christie case – Vardy sued Rooney and lost

What is the repetition rule?

If you repeat a defamatory statement (eg retweet it or republish it) you could be sued for defamation too

What is the limitation period?

you have 12 months from date of first publication to bring an action for defamation

What is the test in law for defamation?

what ‘right thinking’ members of society would think about the meaning of the words

What does inference mean?

a statement with a secondary meaning which can be understood by someone without specialist knowledge, reading between the lines

What is an innuendo?

a hint towards a hidden meaning which is defamatory to someone with specialist knowledge

What does Identification mean?

In defamation law, identification is satisfied if a statement would reasonably lead people who know the claimant to believe it refers to them, meaning a publisher must identify the correct person or risk multiple claims.

Why can juxtaposition cause defamation?

where images, captions, or neighbouring stories create a false implication about a person, particularly if someone (such as a police officer) is named alongside content suggesting investigation or arrest, which also risks breaching privacy.

What does publication mean in defamation law?

requires the words to be communicated to a third party, but the mere fact that allegedly libellous material appears online does not automatically mean a libel claim will succeed.

What does Section 5 of the Defamation Act 2013 do?

protects website operators against defamation
by users if they show they are only hosting content but if the claimant can’t identify the user

What does Regulation 19 of the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002 do?

Website operators are protected from liability for unlawful user comments if they do not have actual knowledge of them and remove such content once notified

Why should you be careful about apologies?

Badly worded apologies can create further defamation by repeating the libel or implying another party is lying, so corrections should be legally checked before publication, and court reports should never be altered because they are protected by a specific defamation defence.