Legal Commentary

Lawsuits Against Blog Commenters On the Rise

By Jeralyn

Lawsuits against internet users, including anonymous commenters, are on the rise, according to the Media Law Resource Center in New York and other media experts.

"Most people have no idea of the liability they face when they publish something online," said Eric Goldman, who teaches Internet law at Santa Clara University. "A whole new generation can publish now, but they don't understand the legal dangers they could face. People are shocked to learn they can be sued for posting something that says, 'My dentist stinks.' "

Under federal law, websites generally are not liable for comments posted by outsiders. They can, however, be forced to reveal the poster's identity if the post includes false information presented as fact.

So where are the boundary lines? [More...]

Calling someone a "jerk" and a "buffoon" may be safe from a lawsuit because it states an opinion. Saying he wrongly "pocketed" public money could lead to a defamation claim because it asserts something as a fact.

And it's not hard to track down anonymous commenters:

A lot of people don't know how easy it is to track them down" once a lawsuit is filed, said Sara J. Rose, an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer in Pittsburgh.

In one lawsuit last month, the 9th Circuit upheld a trial court's order requiring disclosure of three posters who engaged in a smear campaign against a company.

"The right to speak, whether anonymously or otherwise, is not unlimited," wrote Judge Margaret McKeown."

Advice from the media law experts:

The first thing people need to realize, they can be held accountable for what they say online," Baron said. "Before you speak ill of anyone online, you should think hard before pressing the 'send' button."

In other words, remember that the internet has no eraser.

Full post as published by TalkLeft on August 23, 2010 (boomark / email).