by Traverse Legal, reviewed by Enrico Schaefer - March 8, 2011 - l. Stopping Internet Defamation of Character
Internet Defamation affects more people than just about any other on-line issue, beyond privacy concerns. As an internet defamation attorney, I get calls and emails every day from people who have been defamed on-line, either on a bulletin board post, blog post, user generated blog comment, FaceBook post, Twitter post or other review web site comment. Their reputation has been attacked and the web page with the defamatory content is being returned as a high search engine result. Their business associates, competitors, neighbors, church congregation, employees and friends need only Google "their name" or their "company name" to be exposed to hurtful, false and defamatory statements. An online defamation attorney knows all too well how difficult it is for clients when the internet spews libelous content for everyone to see. Here are some things you need to know and understand before you decide to sue for defamation, slander, or libel:
Defamation of character is one of the most personal and difficult issues for anyone to confront. Because the Internet makes it permanent, it feels like someone put a billboard up in front of your house or office, a billboard which never comes down. On the internet, you can't simply move to a different neighborhood or change jobs. The billboard follows you around wherever you go for the rest of your life.
Clients need to understand that defamation on the internet presents a number of unique legal challenges. The first is that you need to prove who is making the false statements. Unless the post author has provided their name, or the information was posted by the web site owner with property "Who Is" information on their domain registration, identifying the author of the post or comment can be a challenge. Since many ISP's and hosting companies only keep IP information for 30 to 60 days, it becomes critical to either preserve the IP information or sue for online defamation and issue a subpoena for that information. In short, time is of the essence.
The second big challenge is that the United States Congress passed the Communications Decency Act. Section 230 of that Act provides immunity from liability for providers and users of an "interactive computer service" who publish information provided by others:
No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.
This means you may not be able to sue the web host, web site owner or publisher of third party content, that is, the person on whose Internet web page the defamation of character is found.
Internet defamation attorneys rarely take these cases on a contingency fee basis since collection is difficult, and most clients are looking to have the content removed instead of money damages. But there are options short of litigation. Many web sites of Terms of Use Agreement (TOU) which prohibit users from posting comments which amount to defamation of character. Some people who post defamatory or libelous statements are willing to have them removed after receiving an online defamation threat letter.
As a founding partner of Traverse Legal, PLC, he has more than thirty years of experience as an attorney for both established companies and emerging start-ups. His extensive experience includes navigating technology law matters and complex litigation throughout the United States.
This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by attorney Enrico Schaefer, who has more than 20 years of legal experience as a practicing Business, IP, and Technology Law litigation attorney.
