Slander/Libel Law?

[Carl_B]

I have a large collection of hybrid plants and

 

I'm a member of a number of online forum's and

facebook groups for this group of hybrid plants and

 

I want to write some short notes on different commercial sellers to help new members

 

some of these sellers are known to take money and then cease all contact with the buyer

or not send anything for 6 months or send absolute rubbish..

 

. now I have not personally purchased from a couple of these sellers so if I write something along the lines of

 

Buy it & Scarper - Large nursery based in [EU Country] which has been known not to send any plants for months on end

or at all and will ignore customers who email them and also threaten legal action if they don't remove disparaging comments from facebook - AVOID

 

now if I haven't personally bought from them where do I stand?

 

obviously if I have purchased form them then I can give a personal experience account.

 

Many thanks in advance!

[Sidewinder]

It all depends on what information you have to back up any claims and how watertight you want to be.

 

If, for example your forum members had experienced problems then you could write :-

 

Buy it & Scarper - Large nursery based in [EU Country] which has been reported by a number of forum members not to send any plants for months on end or at all, and it is claimed then ignored emails from those customers and threatened legal action were they not to remove disparaging comments from Facebook. Based on those reports I would probably avoid purchasing from them[/Quote]

 

This would keep the information factual rather than speculative - you have seen reports that people have had problems - you are not saying (nor to be fair do you KNOW) that ALL customers have had problems, and there is a suggestion that the company do not like negative information on social media. You are also saying that your personal information based on the anecdotal information available is that you would choose not to buy from them. Nothing wrong with that at all, whereas to suggest that they rip off all customers and that everybody should avoid them would be open to a challenge.

[Carl_B]

Thanks Sidewinder that is most informative

[obiter dictum]

Defamation and Libel

 

Libel is Written, Slander is spoken

 

In context as to online forums, a High Court ruling in 2009 rulled that defamation on an internet bulitin board is slander rather than Libel.

 

The simple answer is to be able to prove what you state. You say "which has been known" That is hearsay and subjective. You can only put up comments that have directly affected you in which you can substantiate. The right to Free speech and expression are qualified rights and not absolute

[BankFodder]

 

In context as to online forums, a High Court ruling in 2009 rulled that defamation on an internet bulitin board is slander rather than Libel.

 

Sorry but I don't believe that this was the state of the law in the end - but anyway, you need to see the new Defamation Act 2013

[obiter dictum]

http://www.lawdit.co.uk/reading-room/bulletin-boards-slander-or-libel

[Bandit127]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Defamation_Act_2013

 

The first point of contact for a claim (if it were to happen) would be with the owner of the forum/website. I would therefore check your comments with the admin/site team of the forums before posting them publicly.

 

Some forum owners are very sensitive about possible defamatory comments being posted by users.

[obiter dictum]

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2006/mar/22/news.uknews

[citizenB]

Capquest, I think you might be a little out of date with your link.

 

New Defamation Bill was released 2013

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18005317

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-25551640

[obiter dictum]

Thats great

 

sincere thanks for clarification

[unclebulgaria67]

As an ordinary member of the public, you can make comments about any company in regard to the service they offer. As long as the comments are fair and based on what you believe to be true, do not suggest any illegal behaviour (without definite proof) and allow for a right to respond, then there will be no libel.

 

Companies threaten all sorts of action in regard to online comments, because they can be very damaging to online trade. Just make sure comments are based on what you have experienced or been told about the service offered. At the end of your comments, you could highlight how these companies could respond to the forum comments.