Currently you can find over Thirty million blogs on the Internet and thousands more getting created per week. Accepting ownership of one blog per person, that’s at the least 30 million individuals slinging around their personal opinions on all that exists under the sun. This is a good thing. The free exchange of thoughts and ideas is what prevents the planet from becoming a stagnant pool of simple beliefs.
However, to grab a line belonging to the movie Spiderman, ‘With great power comes great responsibility’. Blogging is becoming a means for the words of the people being heard. We should be careful, though, never to abuse our power through thoughtless acts that hurt the credibility of bloggers and blogging. One place that continues to be our Achilles heel is when good posts go south.
In the USA, libel and slander are the two types of defamation. In many states, courts have begun treating them the same as the only difference between both is that libel is really a false written statement about an individual, place or thing that harms his/her/its reputation while slander is the verbal act with the same offense. Whether blogged on the net or whispered offline to your mother, the common denominator is that what exactly is said is false.
Since I’m psychic, I already know just what you really are thinking. ‘The First Amendment in the US Constitution protects me. Provided that it is the truth, I can say whatever I want.’ Well, kind of. As crazy as it sounds, truth is not the silver bullet defense for every case of libel or slander. A judge may require that besides being true the information relayed is in the public interest to learn.
So reporting the CEO of a major corporation had been ensnared pilfering money from the employee’s pension account would probably get dismissed from civil court while telling the world your neighbor has smelly feet might get you into more trouble than you need. Even though it were true, why would it be in the public interest to know that your neighbor’s feet could clear out Yankee Stadium?
Right now, the First Amendment does protect your right to an opinion. If you think that the Mr. Squiggly Toddler Toy is a piece of crap, you are certainly free to inform anyone within earshot as long as you ensure it is clear that it is your opinion about the subject. Likewise, if a person puts forth a poor sentiment regarding their experience with you which is clear to any reasonable person that it’s their opinion, your legal recourse against them is severely limited.
Parody and satire are also protected. If they weren’t, Saturday Night Live and South Park would have never got past the very first episode. And also criticism of a public performance like a symphony, a theatrical production and even a book is shielded under the Fair Criticism and Comment clause.
Now the web contributes some interesting layers of complication for the whole blogging shebang. Instead of being found in a localized area, libel has the possibilities to cross international borders and not every single country handles these cases exactly the same. The major problems courts around the world are having to deal with is the one of jurisdiction. If I live in America and I libel someone that lives in the United Kingdom where exactly does the case take place and who’s laws do we go by? Many cases have set a scary precedent that leans towards being able to sue anywhere around the world for libel published on the web.
Then you have the issue of third party liability. Say you’re a responsible blogger who is careful about her posts to avoid a troublesome libel accusation. One of your readers posts a libelous statement on your blog. Can you be held accountable for that person’s actions? Well, up to now the law has only made provisions for Internet service providers stating that they can not be held responsible for how their customers use their services (as it pertains to defamation). Also, blog providers such as Google and Six Apart may likely be safe from any lawsuits arising from an individuals use of the service.
Regardless of whether or not you would be held responsible may come down to should you moderate your comments. When you allow comments to be posted immediately, you may be protected under Section 230 of the US Code (for US Citizens). It could be a different story, on the other hand, if you approve comments before posting them. It may be argued that your posting of the comments equates your agreement to them. Up to now, no one has shown up in court to argue this, therefore the fact that we are kind of forced to make it up as we go along.
Defamation is often a tricky issue and something that needs to be tread carefully if one is to avoid ending up in court. Listed here are some tips to help keep you out of trouble. Note: I am not a lawyer. Although I did get to play one on “Touched by an Angel” on TV. In the event that you and your blog deal with some highly controversial issues or you’re just not sure just how much trouble you would get into if you published that post about your best friend’s boyfriend, I suggest getting in touch with a lawyer to acquire the best advice.
1. Change the names. Definitely the simplest thing that can be done would be to change in order to avoid using the name of the person you’re talking about and to strip away as much identifying information as you possibly can. If a reasonable individual can visit your hometown and quickly identify the “mealy-mouth cow” you blogging about on the internet, you should do some modifying.
2. Take advantage of a disclaimer. I’ve an great one on my website. Even something as basic as “By making use of this blog site, you agree that the views expressed are the property and responsibility of their respective owners” may provide some safeguard in the event of a court action. (Check with a real attorney please).
3. Think about writing your rant like a parody or satire. Extreme exaggerations that no fair person would believe are not considered defamation since, quite frankly, they are unbelievable. Be careful though, this sort of writing requires a specific je sais quoi, and may very easily backfire on you. Have a reasonable person proofread the entry to make sure it passes the believability evaluation.
4. Watch your language. Make sure you use wording which makes it apparent that this is your opinion about the topic. Assertions like, “That Mr. Squiggly Toddler Toy is a piece of crap” makes it seem like you’re stating a fact when in all actuality you’re making a personal judgment about the toy. Something similar to “I believe Mr. Squiggly Toddler Toy is a piece of crap” or “That Mr. Squiggly Toddler Toy fell apart right after the first use” are safe bets. At the least as far as the law will be concerned.
5. And last yet definitely not least, really don’t tell bogus reports. Right now this may could be seen as common sense but wait , how common is common sense these days? Really. If you feel the need to resort to lying regarding someone, you might want to seek professional help in evaluating why you need to do that. Because odds are, it’s not to safeguard the public. Use blogging wisely!
Running a blog is a terrific way to meet individuals and also remain current in the world and doing so responsibly will only make the experience better. Stay safe, stay rational and most of all, have a great time.
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