NBC News: A pro-Johnny Depp YouTuber was sent a cease-and-desist after she targeted an employee of Amber Heard’s PR team. “A pro-Johnny Depp YouTuber was spreading lies and conspiracy theories about an employee of the public relations firm that works with Amber Heard, a law firm said in a cease-and-desist letter.”
NSW Government (Australia): National defamation reform for search engines and social media opens for comment. “Australians are invited to have their say on new proposals released today to modernise national defamation law for search engines and social media sites. NSW Attorney General Mark Speakman said the reforms, led by NSW, focus on the extent to which internet intermediaries should be liable for reputation-damaging material published by third party users online.”
Neos Kosmos: Archbishop Makarios sues blogger for defamation. “Archbishop Makarios Grinezakis claims a blogger has falsely accused him of misappropriating millions of church dollars to fund a palatial apartment on Sydney Harbour and luxurious lifestyle while covering up abuse and dealing in bribes. The head of the Orthodox Church in Australia has appeared often on Greek Flash News blog penned by Alkis Morelas.”
AFP: Google Fined $245 Million By Mexican Court Over Defamatory Blog. “A court in Mexico City on Friday ordered Google to pay $245 million to a Mexican lawyer who said the US tech giant allowed the dissemination of a blog that accused him of money laundering.”
ABC News (Australia): High Court asked to decide if search engine giant Google is a publisher of content. “Google and Melbourne lawyer George Defteros are set for a showdown in the High Court of Australia today over whether the search engine giant is classified as a publisher or not. Mr Defteros successfully sued Google in 2020 for $40,000, after it failed to take down a story he said had defamed him.”
City AM: Google settles libel lawsuit with Tory MP over defamatory ‘paedophile’ advert. “Google has settled a libel lawsuit brought forward by Conservative party MP Lee Anderson, after the tech company displayed adverts falsely accusing Anderson of protecting peadophiles. Google Ireland issued an apology to Anderson and settled the case out of court, after it hosted a political advert from campaign group ‘Keeping Kids Safe’ on political news website Guido Fawkes.”
New York Daily News: Cardi B wins $1.25 million defamation lawsuit against celebrity blogger who made false statements. “Cardi B was awarded $1.25 million Monday by a jury that agreed with her lawsuit against celebrity blogger Tasha K for defamation, invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Tasha K, whose given name is Latasha Kebe, had spread false allegations that Cardi B had herpes, used cocaine and worked as a prostitute.”
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.”
