Backdoor Defamation
The legal issues breakout session at today's blogging conference was very popular. Thanks to everyone who attended. Because of the late start and the high degree of participation from the session participants, we didn't quite get to cover everything we wanted to cover.
One of those areas is "backdoor defamation", which is a significant issue, so in true blogging fashion, I'll discuss it here instead.
Backdoor defamation, as I and Nic Suzor define the term, is where a company who claims to have been defamed finds a way to sue, despite the uniform national defamation laws saying that corporations, generally speaking, cannot sue for defamation. Some of these methods include:
E.g., if I publish a review of a restaurant which says that the food tasted bad, this may convey the imputation that the owners or managers of the restaurant were incompetent, because they employed a chef who made bad food. This is what happened in Gacic v John Fairfax - the owners of a restaurant who received a bad review sued for defamation.
If uncomplimentary things which you blog about a company could reflect badly on the people who own or manage the company, be careful...
One of those areas is "backdoor defamation", which is a significant issue, so in true blogging fashion, I'll discuss it here instead.
Backdoor defamation, as I and Nic Suzor define the term, is where a company who claims to have been defamed finds a way to sue, despite the uniform national defamation laws saying that corporations, generally speaking, cannot sue for defamation. Some of these methods include:
This last point is perhaps the most concerning. Just because the company can't sue for defamation, doesn't mean that the company's managers, owners, directors, etc can't sue for defamation.
- Suing for "injurious falsehood" - e.g. the Whirlpool lawsuit;
- Suing for misleading and deceptive conduct under the Trade Practices Act - e.g. the David Jones v Australia Institute action; and
- Individuals associated with the corporation suing for defamation.
E.g., if I publish a review of a restaurant which says that the food tasted bad, this may convey the imputation that the owners or managers of the restaurant were incompetent, because they employed a chef who made bad food. This is what happened in Gacic v John Fairfax - the owners of a restaurant who received a bad review sued for defamation.
If uncomplimentary things which you blog about a company could reflect badly on the people who own or manage the company, be careful...
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