Defamation

What to do if you’re experiencing online harassment (from a legal perspective)

October 5th, 2021 by Michael Hackl

This article was first published on rabble.ca

The internet can be a horrible place, where people can spread conspiracy theories and misinformation and can make defamatory and harassing comments about others. The nature of the internet means its users have the ability to post comments that are then instantaneously distributed around the world with a simple click, which can magnify the impact of online harassment dramatically.

In an increasingly polarized social and political world, the internet has revealed itself to be a useful and common conduit for people who wish to participate in such harmful behaviours. Continue reading “What to do if you’re experiencing online harassment (from a legal perspective)”

Defamation, SLAPP suits, and the Internet Age

January 13th, 2012 by Paula Boutis and Tim Petrou

The Internet represents a communications revolution. It makes instantaneous global communication available cheaply to anyone with a computer and an Internet connection. It enables individuals, institutions, and companies to communicate with a potentially vast global audience. It is a medium which does not respect geographical boundaries. Concomitant with the utopian possibility of creating virtual communities, enabling aspects of identity to be explored, and heralding a new and global age of free speech and democracy, the Internet is also potentially a medium of virtually limitless international defamation [emphasis added]. 1

Continue reading “Defamation, SLAPP suits, and the Internet Age”

  1. Matthew Collins, The Law of Defamation and the Internet (Oxford University Press, 2001), at para. 24.02 ↩