Defamation ruled in messageboard case

A man has been awarded £10,000 in damages, after a woman posted repeated abuse and allegations against him on a Yahoo! message group.

The man in question was a member of the UK Independence party, and the allegations made against him varied from simple name-calling, to accusing him of sexual harrassment and indecency.

While the case showed that public abuse and allegations posted to the internet will be treated as defamation, it also highlights that defamation cases relating to the internet are rarely brought to court, as the material is usually removed.

However, what it doesn’t underline is the legal responsibilities of webmasters.

Something Platinax has learned from experience is that some companies can be very aggressive at calling “customer complaints” made in public as “defamation”, and be additionally aggressive in forcing the matter.

In such situations, webmasters have little option to choose between an expensive defamation suit, or else remove the material.