New York Times: Missing Apostrophe in Facebook Post Lands a Man in Defamation Court. “A missing apostrophe in a Facebook post could cost a real estate agent in Australia tens of thousands of dollars after a court ruled a defamation case against him could proceed.”
Reuters: ‘A coward’s palace’: Australian PM slams social media amid defamation law controversy. “Australia’s prime minister lambasted social media on Thursday as ‘a coward’s palace’, saying platforms should be treated as publishers when defamatory comments by unidentified people are posted, pouring fuel on a raging debate over the country’s libel laws.”
Jalopnik: Tesla Sues For Defamation Over Social Media Posts. “Last year, a Chinese court found Tesla guilty of sales fraud after a Model S sold as accident-free was found to have major structural damage. Now, after losing an appeal on the case, the company is suing to have evidence of the case stricken from social media. While this isn’t the first time Tesla has threatened to sue over social media posts, this particular case is a unique one. Not only has this suit actually been filed, but it’s a direct response to posts about the previous sales fraud case. Tesla is demanding damages from Han Chao, who filed the fraud case.”
BBC: Australia media can be sued for social media comments, court rules. “Australian news outlets can be held liable for defamatory comments posted by readers on their social media posts, the nation’s top court has found. The landmark ruling could have wide implications for how Australian news firms and others use social media.”
Indian Express: PIL against Google for showing Kannada as ‘ugliest language’ withdrawn after its apology. “The Karnataka High Court Wednesday disposed of a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking to initiate legal action against Google India, after a query on the search engine for the ‘ugliest language in India’ returned Kannada as the answer.”
Hartford Courant: Judge orders blogger who frequently criticizes Hartford Police Department to turn over laptop as part of civil suit . “A Connecticut judge has ordered blogger Kevin Brookman — a frequent critic of the Hartford Police Department — to turn over his laptop and cellphone as part of a police lieutenant’s quest to identify and sue anonymous commenters who disparaged him on Brookman’s site.”
Daily Hive: Blogger to pay $30k after negative reviews of breast augmentation surgery. “British Columbia’s Supreme Court has ordered a woman to pay tens of thousands of dollars in damages after posting defamatory reviews after her breast augmentation surgery.”
The Irish News: Tech giant Google will face international businessman in the Irish courts in landmark case. “Defamation proceedings have been issued at Dublin High Court by lawyers on behalf of Kheir Allab, a French-Algerian entrepreneur. Despite having won a court order in Switzerland and instituted criminal libel proceedings in France, Mr Allab says he is continuing to be targeted by detractors on YouTube with videos making false and defamatory claims.”
Sydney Morning Herald: Google embroiled in Kung Fu controversy. “The International Wushu Federation (IWUF), the world governing body for Kung Fu, has sued in the Federal Court of Australia to force Google, which owns video platform YouTube, to disclose the identity of the operator of the Wushuleaks Channel, which has posted videos alleging IWUF is corrupt.”
The Guardian: Negative criticism: can the surge in Google review defamation cases be stopped?. “Google review defamation cases have been on the rise in Australia in the past few years, but recent changes to the law are likely to limit the number of cases reaching court.”
Poynter: Defamation was considered a well-settled area of law. Then came social media.. “When Ed Henry’s legal team arrives at court to carry out defamation lawsuits against Fox News, CNN and NPR over his sexual misconduct allegations, it will have to prove there was a reckless disregard for the truth. In other words, the former Fox News personality must demonstrate that the media companies intentionally lied and avoided learning the facts about the alleged situation.”
The Tennessee Tribune: Google’s Gangland Lawyer Suit Appeal Fails in Australia. “A court has refused Google’s application for leave to appeal an AU$ 40,000 ($30369) defamation payout to a Victorian lawyer known for representing underworld crooks. George Defteros had clients including gangsters Alphonse Gangitano and Mario Condello and gangland identity Mick Gatto. He successfully sued Google, arguing its publication of a 2004 article about his arrest on conspiracy to murder charges – which were later dropped – defamed him.”
New York Times: Google Seeks to Break Vicious Cycle of Online Slander. “For many years, the vicious cycle has spun: Websites solicit lurid, unverified complaints about supposed cheaters, sexual predators, deadbeats and scammers. People slander their enemies. The anonymous posts appear high in Google results for the names of victims. Then the websites charge the victims thousands of dollars to take the posts down. This circle of slander has been lucrative for the websites and associated middlemen — and devastating for victims. Now Google is trying to break the loop.”
Bloomberg: Singapore Blogger Crowdfunds $100,000 to Pay PM Defamation Award. “Singapore’s High Court on March 24 ordered [Leong Sze Hian] to pay S$133,000 ($98,800) to [Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong] for posting a link to a Malaysian news site that alleged the city-state’s leader had helped launder 1Malaysia Development Berhad funds. Since then more than 2,000 people donated to a crowdfunding campaign on social media to raise the full amount, Lim Tean, Leong’s attorney, posted to Facebook on Monday.”
South China Morning Post: Singapore opposition politician ordered to pay PM Lee Hsien Loong US$99,000 in defamation case. “A Singapore court has ordered an opposition politician to pay Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong S$133,000 (US$99,000) in damages for defamation in one of two recent libel suits launched by the island nation’s premier over online comments about him.”
