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Think Before you Tweet or Post- 29/03/2011
With the first successful court action for libel on Twitter resulting in a bill for £53,000, Wolverhampton law firm FBC Manby Bowdler LLP is warning all users of social networks to pause and think before they tweet or post.
Charlotte Clode, a solicitor in FBC Manby Bowdler’s Litigation Department, says that many people do not consider the consequences of what they write on Twitter or social networking sites, but the law makes no difference between a comment published on-line or on paper.
“Many people consider using social networking sites the same as having a conversation with their friends, often making what they might regard as humorous or jokey comments. However, if the subject of those comments regards them as defamatory they can sue for libel, as they have also been made available to a third party,” explains Miss Clode.
Some recent court cases have been more severe than just bad jokes gone wrong.
Caerphilly county councillor Colin Elsbury was forced to pay £3,000 in compensation, and £50,000 in legal costs, when a court found he had libelled fellow candidate Eddie Talbot by wrongly claiming on Twitter that Mr Talbot had been removed from a polling station by police during a by-election in 2009. Mr Elsbury had apologies and claimed it was a case of mistaken identity, but the court found against him.
Last year a law student dubbed a 'paedophile' by a former friend who posted child porn on his Facebook page won £10,000 in libel damages. This follows a case two years ago in which a businessman was awarded £22,000 in damages over fake entries posted on Facebook.
According to Miss Clode, it can be sometimes a problem to establish the identity of authors of defamatory comments made on-line, as they can be made anonymously or hidden by a user name.
She says: “Just because it may be more difficult to establish who made the libellous comments on-line does not mean that it cannot successfully be pursued, as any publisher, in this case the social network or website, can also be potentially liable.
“As is the case with many disputes, most libel cases tend to settle well in advance of getting to court, but the fact that the complainant has been successful in the Twitter case will certainly encourage more people who feel they have been defamed on-line to start legal action.
“There are a number of defences available, including that the words are true, but the best defence of all is to pause and think about what you are about to write on-line, so that any comments you make are not defamatory.”
With 35 partners, FBC Manby Bowdler is one of the largest law firms in the West Midlands. The firm has offices in Wolverhampton, Willenhall, Telford, Shrewsbury and Bridgnorth.