With the popularity of blogging increasing & without any clear
guidelines or ethics which must be adhered to, I feel it important to
identity the range of legal liabilities and other unforeseen
circumstances which can arise when blogging.
There are 3 keys areas to be considered & understood:
★ Defamation & Libel ★
Defamation: false or unjustified injury of the good reputation of another, as by slander or libel.
Libel: defamation by written or print words, pictures etc & the act or crime of publishing it.
★ Releasing proprietary & confidential information ★
★ Employment ★
There is no argument that blogs are a fantastic method of communication, however it’s important for all bloggers to take responsibility when writing/publishing in order to avoid the following consequences:
✖ Blogging & Defamation &/or Liability ✖
A number of cases have been heard in court against ‘bloggers’
concerning issues of defamation &/or liability.
Regardless of whether or not the blogger believe themselves to be anonymous, they can be traced via their ISP.
✖ In Malaysia, eight Royal Dutch Shell Group companies collectively obtained in June 2004 an Interim Injunction & Restraining Order against a Shell whistleblower, a Malaysian geologist & former Shell employee, Dr John Huong.
✖ The proceedings are in respect of alleged defamatory postings attributed to Dr Huong on a weblog hosted in North America but owned & operated by an 89 year old British national, Alfred Donovan, a long term critic of Shell.
✖ The Shell action is directed solely against Dr Huong.
✖ Further proceedings against Dr Huong were issued by the same plaintiff companies in 2006 in respect of publications on Donovan weblog sites in 2005 and 2006.
✖ The further proceedings include a "Notice to Show Cause" relating to a "contempt of court" action potentially punishable by imprisonment.
✖ The contempt hearing & a related application by the eight Royal Dutch Shell plaintiff companies for Dr Huong to produce Alfred Donovan for cross-examination in connection with an affidavit Donovan provided, was scheduled to be heard in the High Court of Malay in Kuala Lumpur on 17th August 2006.
✖ Donovan's principle weblog is royaldutchshellplc.com. In January 2007, Jeff Ooi and Rocky's Bru were sued for defaming a pro-government newspaper. This is the first legal case against bloggers in the country.
✖ In Britain, a college lecturer contributed to a blog in which she referred to a politician (who had also expressed his views in the same blog) using various uncomplimentary names, including referring to him as a "Nazi”.
✖ The politician found out the real name of the lecturer (she wrote under a pseudonym) via the ISP & successfully sued her for £10,000 in damages & £7,200 costs.
✖ Blogging & Employment ✖
✖ Losing one's employment as a consequence of personal blog commentary about the place of employment has become so commonplace that there is now an informal verb for the event: "dooced”.
✖ The word dooce originates from the pseudonym of Heather Armstrong, who lost her job after writing satirical accounts of her place of employment on her personal blog.
✖ In general, attempts at hiding the blogger's name and/or the place of employment in anonymity have proved ineffective at protecting the blogger.
✖ In the spring of 2006, Erik Ringmar, a tenured senior lecturer at the London School of Economics was ordered by the convenor of his department to "take down & destroy" a blog in which he discussed student life at the school.
✖ Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks, was recently fined during the 2006 NBA playoffs for criticizing NBA officials on the court & in his blog.
✖ Mark Jen was terminated in 2005 after a mere 10 days of employment at Google for discussing corporate secrets on his personal blog.
✖ Blogging & Political Consequences ✖
✖ Blogging can sometimes have unforeseen consequences in politically sensitive areas.
✖ People are increasingly using blogs to express their political opinions.
✖ Sometimes bloggers can get into a very serious trouble when representing their political beliefs. There are many examples of this in the history of blogging.
✖ Other Consequences of Blogging ✖
✖ An unfortunate consequence of blogging is the possibility that the author may be subject to attacks, threats & harassment, often for NO rational reason.
✖ A blog is published worldwide & although if you publish articles you are open to both positive & negative criticism, under no circumstances are threats & abuse acceptable.
✖ Anonymity is often unsubstantiated as the best of times, however; blog trolls [individual’s who ‘anonymously' follow & harass other bloggers] believe that they can hide, & that their threats & insults can be emboldened by their anonymity.
✖ There have been many internet discussions aimed at countering abusive online behaviour, including developing a blogger's code of conduct (which will feature in a later post).
For more information (references):
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