SF Admin
Administrator
- Joined
- Aug 20, 2009
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On Thursday 11th November 2010 it was brought to our attention that a number of defamatory comments had been made on the Scaffolders Forum by an unnamed member, which have deemed to be “groundless and malicious falsehoods”.
We were instructed by the plaintiff’s solicitors to remove the offending posts and ban the user from the Scaffolders Forum or face prosecution. By law, we were also required to provide them with the users IP address.
This post is not meant to “scare” you or “gag” you, but as I have already mentioned in the past, defamatory comments made on the Internet are classed as libel and are treated in the same way as they would be if the originated in printed media.
It is accepted in a democratic society that individuals have a right to express their own views and preferences and the Scaffolders Forum offers extensive potential for individuals and organisations to do this.
'Defamation', on the other hand, involves an abuse of freedom of expression whereby statements that may have a harmful impact on a person's reputation are published.
Obviously it is important to ensure that unfounded claims should not be allowed to damage a person’s reputation, but it is also important for the law to balance such protections with the rights to freedom of expression that are a critical element of democratic societies.
Please do not speculate over the parties involved with this matter as I will not divulge this information.
Best Regards
SF Admin
For more information see the following article - http://www.internetrights.org.uk/factsheets.shtml?cmd[512]=i-512-6f36a31f3e6ae887cc96da954d4e19fc&x=53237
We were instructed by the plaintiff’s solicitors to remove the offending posts and ban the user from the Scaffolders Forum or face prosecution. By law, we were also required to provide them with the users IP address.
This post is not meant to “scare” you or “gag” you, but as I have already mentioned in the past, defamatory comments made on the Internet are classed as libel and are treated in the same way as they would be if the originated in printed media.
It is accepted in a democratic society that individuals have a right to express their own views and preferences and the Scaffolders Forum offers extensive potential for individuals and organisations to do this.
'Defamation', on the other hand, involves an abuse of freedom of expression whereby statements that may have a harmful impact on a person's reputation are published.
Obviously it is important to ensure that unfounded claims should not be allowed to damage a person’s reputation, but it is also important for the law to balance such protections with the rights to freedom of expression that are a critical element of democratic societies.
Please do not speculate over the parties involved with this matter as I will not divulge this information.
Best Regards
SF Admin
For more information see the following article - http://www.internetrights.org.uk/factsheets.shtml?cmd[512]=i-512-6f36a31f3e6ae887cc96da954d4e19fc&x=53237
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