slander//libel

purehoor

hi all just wwonderin what my options are. recently my ex partner has made some very nasty and untrue comments on a social networking site about me to which at least another 10 people posted more horrifying comments and threats and out and out lies. iv had people come up to me and say im a disgrace and some people who i thought were friends now wont talk to me. i have reported them on the site but seems nothing actually gets done when you do this. is there anything i can do about these slanderous hurtful comments. i know when someone says something about you thats not true its slander and when its actually written its libel. can i teach these people a lesson going thru the legal system and try and restore my good decent name?

BrianD

Consult a solicitor. You should also take screenshots of what was written to back up your case.

Also you'll need to be satisfied that they are not factual. The truth is sometimes hurtful when presented to others.

purehoor

have the snap shots of all comments. any comments that were made were actually made by people that have never even met me. disgusting stuff.

234

See a solicitor, but keep in mind that vulgar abuse is not defamation. It would have to be more in the nature of allegations of fact. For instance, a somebody saying that you are a 'f**king disgrace' would not be saying anything defamatory.

NoQuarter

Yes you need to be aware that "honest opinion" is a defence to defamation so if it was merely the persons opinion then it may not be defamatory.

You might want to google the Defamation Act 2009 and take what you can from it but a solicitor is essential if you want to take it further.

montreal2011

In Facebook, go to your "Account Settings" page. At the bottom of the options, you should see a link "Download a copy of your Facebook data". Use this to get your Facebook data sent to you via e-mail.

It is easy to change any text written on a website and take a screen-shot, so I would expect that screen shots should not be good enough as evidence if this ever came to court. With the email, you have the data sent from Facebook and thus should be considered more reliable as evidence.

BrianD

montreal2011 wrote: »

In Facebook, go to your "Account Settings" page. At the bottom of the options, you should see a link "Download a copy of your Facebook data". Use this to get your Facebook data sent to you via e-mail.

It is easy to change any text written on a website and take a screen-shot, so I would expect that screen shots should not be good enough as evidence if this ever came to court. With the email, you have the data sent from Facebook and thus should be considered more reliable as evidence.

It would only be the OPs data and not the offending party(s).

montreal2011

BrianD wrote: »

It would only be the OPs data and not the offending party(s).

True, I assumed that the stuff was posted on the OPs wall, so if not, then it would be of no use.

John C

Let's focus on the last part of you post:

can i teach these people a lesson going thru the legal system
and try and restore my good decent name?

I am not a solicitor. Thus I know little about the legal situation.
My layman's standpoint: I am against going to court.

Let's speculate about happens during and after this case goes to court.

The Streisand effect is a primarily online phenomenon
in which an attempt to hide or remove a piece of information
has the unintended consequence of publicising the information
more widely. It is named after American entertainer Barbra
Streisand, whose attempt in 2003 to suppress photographs
of her residence inadvertently generated further publicity.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streisand_effect

By going to court these comments will get more publicity.

Other points:
In which country are the servers of this
social networking site?
Can the (original) poster be traced?
In which country are these posters resident?
Can these posters be summoned to court?

If a court case lasted 18 months, would your acquaintances
have forgotten it in 18 months anyhow? Many things happened
in May 2009 but they are now long forgotten.

Could you stop reading this social networking site.

nuac

I support John C's advice and am a lawyer.

Never rush into defamation proceedings - unless you are going to lose yuour job, business, marriage or house. forget about teaching anyone a lesson.

purehoor

the tpye of stuff that was said was defamatory but also sayin very untrue damaging stuff. so my only option seems to be sit back and let them ruin my already damaged life???? doesnt seem fair that they should be allowed to get away with it. so i could go out there and say pretty much anything about anyone no matter how damaging and untrue it is and nothing can be done???? oh i already lost my marriage but these excuses for humans are puttin lies out theere to protect my ex's reputation.

Ms Minnie Mouse

From what I understand, such proceedings are also very, very expensive, hence they're not taken all that often. Maybe OK if you're a secret millionaire but, ultimately, what would you gain? A big legal bill and an enormous sense of wellbeing on the basis that you 'taught them a lesson'?

steyrman2

purehoor wrote: »

the tpye of stuff that was said was defamatory but also sayin very untrue damaging stuff. so my only option seems to be sit back and let them ruin my already damaged life???? doesnt seem fair that they should be allowed to get away with it. so i could go out there and say pretty much anything about anyone no matter how damaging and untrue it is and nothing can be done???? oh i already lost my marriage but these excuses for humans are puttin lies out theere to protect my ex's reputation.

I feel sorry for you as a person tbh with all your bad luck for someone to slander you and you to lose your marriage it must be hard to manage .But when i read one of your other posts quote ( im a student so the car never gets anymore than 20e at a time. never had the problem in a year. mechanic confirmed it was ****e diesel. it didnt smell or feel like diesel. i was there when he opened the fuel lines)
can you tell us how old you are am i missing something or am i just reading between the lines