Is libel possible on a forum?

[daKlone]

When I was mod on another forum, we were all instructed to end any non-official post with 'The comments in this post represent the views of <user name> and not those of <forum name>.'.
We were told that it was to ensure that the forum owners couldn't be held responsible if we said anything, shall we say, actionable!!

[Henrietta1]

Originally Posted by MrShed

Hi all,

another thread has got me thinking....is libel actually possible on a forum?

Let me explain what I mean - obviously I realise that libel of a company or individual is perfectly possible. But is libel possible between two forum members? For example, if BankFodder said "MrShed stole a car" (which obviously isnt true), as there is no personally identifyable information about me on here, can I actually pursue this at all(in theory of course BF )?

Cheers for your opinions in advance!

Libel is the publishing of defamatory and untrue allegations. Contrary to popular opinion it doesn't always have to be written. If you say it in front of enough people in the right circumstances it could be held to be libel.

Of course you can commit libel on a forum. Whether BankFodder wrote a book in which he said MrShed had stolen a car or wrote it on the forum it would be the same.

[JonCris]

Slander (the spoken word) only becomes libellous & actionable if in the public domain long enough to be heard by many others whereas libel (the written word) particularly once in the public domain becomes actionable immediately.

That's assuming the protagonists ARE identifiable to others.....However there may still be grounds for action if each of the parties are known to one another insofar as the 'injured' party could still sue for damages claiming stress & injured feelings to him AND his loved ones/family caused by the slander/libel

[Cactiphile71]

I still don't understand this.
I am having an on going dispute with Toucan (part of Tiscali)
over broadband.

And I am quite happily putting this in all reviews, forums etc
I can find about broadband.

Now is this libel against the company as I have made remarks
often repeated by other people as well which may damage their business?
Does it make a difference whether its true?
Does it make a difference that its my opinion or in my experience?

[MARTIN3030]

I am sure that most will have some general ideas on what can be construed as libel-specifically making defamatory remarks that cannot be supported by hard facts.
Use of choice words that imply without doubt serious activities that include criminal acts are just some of those examples.
Please exercise a little more care....and responsible postings.

[Cactiphile71]

I can understand why you edited my email I did delibrately over state my wording to make a point.

The problem is that if I make any remark which negatively portrays a company it could be deemed as libel when its only my word against theirs.
Even if I have documentation to prove what I'm saying, its normally inconvinient to post it to a forum.

In this case I have written proof that Toucan have illegally charged me for premium rate calls , That they passed my email address to a debt collection agency, after I formally wrote to them telling them to remove that information from their database, shows that again they broke data protection laws. Also I have emails and letters that can clearly show that they broke contract by cutting off my phone whilst a direct debit was set up and cannot add up and therefore prove they/their staff are incompentent. Also that they continued to harrass me for payment againsted OFT debt collection guidelines even after given an OTELO case number shows that they do not treat their customers in a fair manner.

So is me calling them unfair, *EDITED* and incompentent still libel?

Or do I have to actually post scans of letters etc with every review site/forum where I advise people to avoid Toucan/Tiscali like the plague.

Maybe what I'm trying to say that as a consumer action group if you removed every comment which was 'possibly' libel from the forums, you would be preventing people getting together on common causes to fight for their consumer rights.

[MARTIN3030]

If it were the case that there were vast numbers of comments that NEEDED removing or editing,then maybe your comments could have some substance.But most users know or have a good idea where to draw the line.If there is potential libel-then is it not reasonable to expect that for the benefit of better being safe than sorry that wording is removed ?
You talk of criminal acts but it would be the Police and Courts to decide if indeed that applied.We cant make assumptions.I am sure there are many other words that you CAN use which would illustrate the rights and wrongs of the situation.I think thats a pretty straightforward summary in reply to your question I dont want nor need to be drawn into debate about it,so will not be commenting further.

[jonni2bad]

Originally Posted by Cactiphile71

I can understand why you edited my email I did delibrately over state my wording to make a point...

And yet you appear to have done the same again...

Originally Posted by Cactiphile71

...In this case I have written proof that Toucan have illegally charged me for premium rate calls..

You may have proof that you were charged for calls you did not make, but until they have been found guilty of an offence, you have no proof that they have acted illegally.

Originally Posted by Cactiphile71

...That they passed my email address to a debt collection agency, after I formally wrote to them telling them to remove that information from their database, shows that again they broke data protection laws. ...

Again, until they have been found guilt of an offence, you do not have what you believe - you have something which might suggest so.

Originally Posted by Cactiphile71

...and therefore prove they/their staff are incompentent...

This is merely a generalisation. Does one problem mean that all their staff are incompetent? No, it merely suggests an isolated problem.

Originally Posted by Cactiphile71

...So is me calling them unfair, *EDITED* and incompentent still libel?...

In the context of your own plight, your personal opinion that they have acted unfairly or with some level of incompetence against you is unlikely to be seen as such, but then again only a Court can really answer that. My own view is that there is little chance of it, although the word you used which has been edited may have been, hence its removal.

Originally Posted by Cactiphile71

...Maybe what I'm trying to say that as a consumer action group if you removed every comment which was 'possibly' libel from the forums, you would be preventing people getting together on common causes to fight for their consumer rights.

Absolutely not. If we don't exist, there could be no help. The number of posts removed or edited because users cannot be bothered to tone down their posts is quite minimal and has no real impact of finding out what companies really do, or what problems really do affect our members.

[Cactiphile71]

Thanks. That has helped.

Companies/people are innocent until proven guilty in court. It's a shame that its neither worth my while or Trading standards while to take
a company to court over a £7.00 premium rate call wrongly charged.


On the other hand consumers are 'guilty' of having debts without proof.
ie. TOUCAN has put a default on my credit file thats been there for 8 months, whilst OTELO considers my case against the incorrect bills.
The end result of this is that any company can make up an invoice,
say its not paid, and pass it to a debt recovery company, who have automatic links to the credit check agencies. It's then up to the consumer to prove his 'innocence' in this matter.

Anyway this has gone off subject. I was just trying to get clarification,
as it made little sense to me, but my bitterness due to the stress caused
by this company sort of crept into the post.

[JOSH_IOU]

After hearing the trolls insulting me in the chat room this moring i decided to look that case up.

Apparently Libel is not the term used its classed as a defamatory statement.

If you belive the BBC.

BBC News | SCI/TECH | Demon settles net libel case

[JonCris]

Oh Dear!!
Lecturer wins £10,000 email libel payout | OUT-LAW.COM

Lecturer wins £10,000 email libel payoutA university which sent a department-wide email accusing a lecturer of expenses fraud has paid him £10,000 in an out-of-court libel settlement.26/08/2008

Moderators say reader comments on news stories are higher risk than forums | OUT-LAW.COM

Moderators say reader comments on news stories are higher risk than forums Media sites which ask readers to comment on news stories are at greater risk of bearing responsibility for those comments than for comments in online forums or discussion groups, leading web moderators have warned. 25/08/2008