As more and more opinions are shared online all over the world, the risk of being brought to answer for a defamatory statement increases. Not only does this risk apply to the author of the statement but website operators can also be brought to answer for the defamatory statements of another published on their site. In England and Wales (hereinafter “the UK”), recent reform of the libel and slander standards in the form of the Defamation Act of 2013 has changed things up a bit, generally making it more difficult for a defamation suit to be brought. It is important to note, however, that Northern Ireland has not adopted this Act so the old rules still apply and Scotland has it’s own law and there are no talks to reform it as of now. The Defamation Act of 2013 came into effect in England and Wales on 1 January 2014.

The reasons for the reforms were to make it more difficult to bring a defamation suit by changing some of the defences, heightening the standard of injury that the complainant must prove for success and relaxing to whom the defences apply. The court system in England and Wales has been clogged up for years now by trivial complaints and libel tourism, in which many international complainants would bring suit in the UK rather than the more appropriate venue to take advantage of archaic common law standards that had placed the burden of proving the offending statement correct on the statement’s author.  With the reform, the complainant must prove the statement is defamatory in nature, in other words, they must prove that the statement is false. Moreover, when it comes to the question of injury, the statement must have or will seriously injury the complainant.

Website Operators. When a defamatory statement is being published online, website operators must be cautious as they can be held liable for defamation as much as the author of the statement. Under the reformed laws, a website operator will notify the author immediately of complaints regarding their statement. The author will then have five-days in which to outlining whether they consent to the removal of their content. Beyond the five-day period, the website operator will have two-days to remove the comment if no response has been given by the author. If there is a response, the author may or may not have to furnish their contact details with the operator to hand over to the complainant.

If you operate a website that publishes your content or the content of others, then please contact us to be certain that you understand all of the international defamation laws and application. Moreover, we can recommend safety features that can protect you from libellous statements published on your site.