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Implementation of the new provisions for website operators under the Defamation Act 2013 has come a step closer, with the Ministry of Justice seeking comments on draft implementing Regulations. INFORRM has a summary of the process, with a helpful flowchart.
Blog Article
The passing of the Defamation Act 2013 this week removes a couple of areas of legal uncertainty if you run a website, blog, etc. and someone else posts an article or comment that may be defamatory. First, provided you aren’t acting maliciously, you don’t risk liability merely by moderating what is posted. Second, the Act tries to ensure that defamation claims are settled either between the author and the person allegedly defamed, or by the courts.
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[Updated to add clause 6 on peer-reviewed scientific and academic journals]
The House of Lords debate of clause 5 of the Defamation Bill this week suggested that the Bill might make it easier for universities and colleges to support vigorous debate through their websites.
Blog Article
The 21st June sitting of the Commons Defamation Bill Committee provided some hints at answers to my questions about the Bill’s definitions and process.
Blog Article
Parliament's Joint Committee on Human Rights has asked for evidence on the Defamation Bill, so I've sent in a Janet submission pointing out the human rights issues that could be raised by the B
Blog Article
Under current defamation law, if a website wants to avoid all risk of liability for material posted by third parties then its best approach is to not moderate postings when they are made, and remove them promptly when any complaint is made.
Blog Article
The House of Commons has published a useful summary of progress on the Defamation Bill, which will return to Parliament next week. Clause 5 of the Bill proposes changes to the current regime for websites hosting allegedly defamatory postings from third parties. When it was last discussed in the House, before the summer, concerns were expressed that the Bill:
Blog Article
The new Defamation Bill promised in the Queen’s Speech has now been published. Although it also contains changes to what statements can give rise to liability for defamation, the most interesting part for network operators is likely to be the new provisions on liability for those who host third party content on web sites and blogs.
Blog Article
The Defamation Bill arrived in the House of Lords this week. Most of the debate concentrated on how to reform the definition of defamation and the court processes for dealing with it. However Lord McNally (at Column 934) gave a good summary of the twin problems affecting websites that host content provided by third parties:
Blog Article
The European Commission have opened a consultation on “notice and action” procedures (in the UK we tend to refer to them as notice and takedown) by those who host content on the Internet. Since Janet customers may see a different side of the issue from us as operators of the network, it would be helpful to get your comments to inform our response.
First there are some specific questions from the consultation:
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