Online forum postings can lead to lawsuits: Could this happen in NZ?

Forums › Off topic › Online forum postings can lead to lawsuits: Could this happen in NZ?

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Fred99

13684 posts

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#1812239 3-Jul-2017 20:36

gzt: Synchronicity. Paula Bennet has begun legal action over Facebook videos today:

http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/07/viral-paula-bennett-letter-defamation-and-harassment-lawyers.html

Lawyers for Ms Bennett have sent a cease and desist letter to the man ordering him to remove an open letter which they say has been shared online more than 5000 times.

Goddam it - Streisand effect.

Now I feel that I just have to see the letter / video.

BBS.

OMG, you'd never believe (etc)...

frednz

1467 posts

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#1813454 5-Jul-2017 20:22

gzt: Synchronicity. Paula Bennet has begun legal action over Facebook videos today:

http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/07/viral-paula-bennett-letter-defamation-and-harassment-lawyers.html

Lawyers for Ms Bennett have sent a cease and desist letter to the man ordering him to remove an open letter which they say has been shared online more than 5000 times.

Yes, this article mentioned that:

... people who hit share on such posts should be aware they could find themselves at the sharp end of a lawsuit.

"They themselves could be deemed to be publishers of the information and be liable for whatever legal wrong they have done," he said.

So Facebook users need to be very careful about what posts they share. Now, I wonder how many Facebook users would be aware of this possibility when sharing a potentially defamatory post?

mattwnz

20141 posts

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#1813463 5-Jul-2017 20:50

frednz:

gzt: Synchronicity. Paula Bennet has begun legal action over Facebook videos today:

http://www.newshub.co.nz/home/politics/2017/07/viral-paula-bennett-letter-defamation-and-harassment-lawyers.html

Lawyers for Ms Bennett have sent a cease and desist letter to the man ordering him to remove an open letter which they say has been shared online more than 5000 times.

Yes, this article mentioned that:

... people who hit share on such posts should be aware they could find themselves at the sharp end of a lawsuit.

"They themselves could be deemed to be publishers of the information and be liable for whatever legal wrong they have done," he said.

So Facebook users need to be very careful about what posts they share. Now, I wonder how many Facebook users would be aware of this possibility when sharing a potentially defamatory post?

I often wonder about this. I wonder if pressing the 'like' button in facebook, or retweeting or liking a twitter post, also could be seen as supporting or republishing information. It is really stupid that these soical media systems have these buttons in place without any warning. Sometimes people can also share things accidently if they don't know what they are doing

freitasm

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#1813474 5-Jul-2017 21:14

@frednz:

Thanks, well worth a read. Some people seem to think that freedom of speech gives them the right to say anything about anybody, even when online. But, as discussed in this article, freedom of speech comes with responsibilities and must have some constraints:

Of course, with rights come with responsibilities. Freedom of speech must have some constraints; that's why it is a crime to incite hatred and violence. And damaging someone's reputation – outside the privileged protection provided at universities and Parliament – can end in a defamation suit. Just as the courts and the media must always jealously guard freedom of speech from state controls, so must our universities.

Ah... Many times we banned people here for breach of FUG and got an email "You're are impinging my FREEDOM OF SPEECH!!!!!??!!!".

This XKCD sums up "freedom of speech" quite well:

DarthKermit

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#1813477 5-Jul-2017 21:19

Hmmm, banning someone on here might protect them from a lawsuit by a third party I guess.

Fred99

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#1813493 5-Jul-2017 22:50

I doubt whether hitting the "share" button on any such post could automatically make you liable and "deemed to be the publisher" of a defamatory article, unless perhaps it could be proven that you could have been reasonably expected to have known it wasn't true, and shared it or endorsed it in some way with intent to defame.

The judge can say what he likes, but the news article itself mentioned that it had already been shared 5400 time. They (judge and television news reporter) need to get over themselves.

As does Bennet, who'd have been better to let go of it - her reaction only gives credibility to a very non-credible rant.

Wiggum

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#1814339 7-Jul-2017 12:18

This thread has got me thinking.

Recently geekzone when to https encryption, I take it that the goal here is to increase my privacy when surfing/posting here etc?

But, its a double edged sword. What happens if I post something that somebody else decides is defamation. Is my contribution to geekzone really private anyway? Or is my security/privacy here dictated by my posts? Geekzone keeps logs, so what is really the point of https/encryption anyway?

PS, Just using geekzone as an example, I would imagine other online forums/social media apps would all be the same. And just because a site is secure/private, it really does not mean very much.

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freitasm

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#1814539 7-Jul-2017 16:20

@Wiggum:

This thread has got me thinking.

Recently geekzone when to https encryption, I take it that the goal here is to increase my privacy when surfing/posting here etc?

But, its a double edged sword. What happens if I post something that somebody else decides is defamation. Is my contribution to geekzone really private anyway? Or is my security/privacy here dictated by my posts? Geekzone keeps logs, so what is really the point of https/encryption anyway?

PS, Just using geekzone as an example, I would imagine other online forums/social media apps would all be the same. And just because a site is secure/private, it really does not mean very much.

Please read our Privacy Statement and pay attention to the Privacy Act 1993. In essence whatever information we log here won't be disclosed to a third party unless in the cases described in the act.

HTTPS guarantees the privacy of your browser communications to our server. This means your ISP or employer can't see what you posted or read.

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