Blogs and Defamation
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Southern New Hampshire University *
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659
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Law
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Jan 9, 2024
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docx
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Uploaded by Pebbles019021
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Running Head: ONLINE DEFAMATION Blogs and Defamation
Arkeela Mitchell
SNHU: IT-659 Cyberlaw and Ethics
Professor Peter Mylonakos
August 27, 2023
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ONLINE DEFAMATION Blog Scenario
Today has been a great day for you. Your company is expanding, and a new location just had its grand opening. You have been chosen to be the new district manager for that location and
five other locations in the area. Everyone came out in support of this opening, including the local
newspaper. Within a few hours, the news station posted an article on their Facebook page about the grand opening along with your picture naming you as the new district manager. Soon after, you receive a call from a friend telling you to check Facebook. You browse the social media site and find an article about you which includes a picture of the one the news station took earlier that
day. There are large, bold, red letters across the picture spelling out the word "FRAUD". Anonymously written beneath your picture is a claim that you obtained your professional advancement through illegal means and have a counterfeit academic credential. You have also been accused of discriminatory behavior. According to the writer, you admitted to them that you financially bribed the regional director for the position and that once you were hired, you would exclusively employ individuals of your desired race and gender. Despite the blog's claims, you know that you earned this promotion through hard work and dedication. Your reputation and career can be destroyed by this post, and you need to decide what to do next.
Procedure
The process of having a harmful or slanderous blog deleted might present difficulties, although there are many avenues via which a person can seek the removal of such blog or website.
Several ways to request a blog deletion includes (Minc, 2023):
Requesting that the individual who published the defamatory comments delete them.
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ONLINE DEFAMATION
Contact the website hosting the defamatory comments and ask it to be taken down.
A court order can remove defamatory URLs that appear in search results. Search engines like Bing can remove URLs based on a court order.
Suppress defamatory content online using reputation management services.
In the scenario when a request is made to the author of a blog to voluntarily delete
defamatory content, such action may only be pursued if the identity of the blogger is
ascertainable. Identifying the authorship of blog postings becomes much more challenging when
they originate from an anonymous blogger, since the deliberate concealment of their identity
complicates the process. The identification of the poster will need the implementation of legal
measures and the use of other resources. Once the situation reaches this juncture, the resolution
no longer relies on persuading the blog poster to willingly delete the entries. If the attempts to
persuade the blog poster to independently delete the defamatory content are ineffective, it may
be advisable to approach the website administrators directly and request their voluntary removal
of the defamatory remarks. The success of these posts may vary depending on the sort of website
on which they are published. Certain websites may choose to proactively delete libelous content
to avoid being entangled in legal disputes (Minc, 2023). Nevertheless, some websites may have
difficulties in removing content or may refuse to do so until legally compelled to act. These
websites often prioritize the protection of people's First Amendment rights and freedom of
expression, and therefore may not willingly cooperate until legally required to do so (Minc,
2023). The individual who is subjected to defamation may resort to pursuing a legal remedy by
requesting a court order for the removal of the defamatory information. If the court determines
that the anonymous poster has caused harm, it may issue an order for the removal of the
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ONLINE DEFAMATION postings. The removal order would be sent to both the website owner and webpage administrator,
as well as being transmitted to Bing for the purpose of removing the content from their cached
memory servers (Minc, 2023). Non-compliance with this order would result in the default of the
parties involved and might expose them to further legal consequences. Moreover, if the defamed
party makes a formal request, they may pursue the disclosure of the IP addresses and identities of
the anonymous entities involved. At that juncture, the affected party would possess the capacity
to initiate legal proceedings in the form of a libel or defamation action against the individuals
responsible for disseminating such erroneous content (Minc, 2023).
Defamation Charges
When researching this case, the undisclosed individuals responsible for the posts were successfully identified. The persons implicated in this case may be subject to civil litigation for defamation accusations or libel, while also possibly facing criminal prosecution for prosecutorial
misconduct. To establish a claim of libel, the plaintiff is required to provide evidence indicating that the blogger disseminated a statement of fact that is untrue, and that such statement has caused damage to the plaintiff's reputation. The statement must undergo a process of publication,
indicating that it has been made available for public consumption, hence potentially reaching an audience beyond the original author (Harding, 2022). Within the context of civil litigation, the party initiating the legal action has the option to pursue a claim under the legal doctrine of Defamation Per Se, whereby some statements made in the form of written remarks may potentially be deemed defamatory in nature (Powell & Stebbins, 2023). Under Defamation Per Se, there are four types of statements that are automatically considered defamatory by the law. One of these is stating that someone engages in
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ONLINE DEFAMATION a behavior that is incompatible with the proper conduct of his or her business, trade, or profession (Harding, 2022). The remarks that were made included allegations of corruption in the individual's business transactions, derogatory remarks on the person's character, and subjected this individual
to public animosity, disdain, mockery, and humiliation. The assertions made by the other party lacked substantiation, so precluding their classification as verifiable truths. Given that the statements pertaining to this individual have not undergone legal proceedings and this individual has not been proven guilty of any misconduct, it is necessary to regard these comments as unfounded. In this instance, the bloggers were deemed culpable, and their names were subsequently ascertained. Individuals who have been subjected to internet libel and its subsequent dissemination may have the opportunity to restore their reputation, retain their employment, and perhaps get financial restitution for the harm they have endured.
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ONLINE DEFAMATION References
Minc. (2023, May 2). How to Remove Defamatory Content from the Internet
. Minc. Retrieved August 29, 2023, from https://www.minclaw.com/dark-side-internet-remove-defamatory-
online-content/
Powell, & Stebbins. (2023, August 1). How to File a Defamation Lawsuit | What to Expect . Minc. Retrieved August 29, 2023, from https://www.minclaw.com/how-to-file-internet-
defamation-lawsuit/#:~:text=Generally%2C%20a%20plaintiff%20must%20prove%20the
%20following%20four,and%20It%20caused%20damage%20to%20the%20plaintiff
%E2%80%99s%20reputation.
Harding, M. (2022, July 26). What is Defamation Per Se, Slander Per Se & Libel Per Se?
Cueto Law Group P.L. https://cuetolawgroup.com/defamation-per-se/#:~:text=The
%20law%20recognizes%20the%20following%20four%20categories%20as,proper
%20conduct%20of%20their%20business%2C%20trade%2C%20or%20profession.
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