Learning about defamation
Looks like I have been found to be talking nonsense about the Craig Murray censorship incident, however, I’ve been connected to the Law Commission report on Defamation and the Internet, which makes interesting reading.
Under section 1(1) of the Defamation Act 1996, a secondary publisher is given a
defence if:
(b) he took reasonable care in relation to its publication; and
(c) he did not know, and had no reason to believe, that what he did caused or contributed to the publication of a defamatory statement.…
we noted that the section 1 defence may cause problems, and that it raised issues that should be examined further. The defence is narrow. It applies only to those who are unaware that the publication contained
a statement with a defamatory meaning, in the sense that it would make reasonable people think worse of the claimant. There is no defence for secondary publishers who genuinely but mistakenly believe that the material is true, privileged or fair comment.
