Even light-hearted comments on social media, let alone within articles or blogs, can land the writer in court or having to pay out hefty bills in compensation
Be warned. We can’t.
This should be the first lesson for anyone embracing any form of social media, writing emails, putting up comments on websites, blogging, Tweeting – even publishing articles in standard print media.
It’s no joke when a prank can cost you tens of thousands of pounds.
Lessons have been learned from ‘jokes’ on Twitter and Facebook and other social media outlets which have cost the authors thousands in High Court cases. Experts say these highlight the dangers of posting even light-hearted material online.
Pause for thought before posting. Consider: Is what I have written accurate? Is it fair? Have I checked my facts?
Social networking sites are great places to share your thoughts, words and deeds with friends, family and work colleagues. They can be light-hearted and jokey places.
But there are jokes…and jokes.
Sending up your friends or colleagues on any social networking site with the intention of making them look stupid or inferring they are not what they seem, is no joking matter. It is libel.
And it could cost you thousands when a court says you have to pay damages as compensation to vindicate the reputation of the person you ‘joked’, to compensate for harm to their reputation and as compensation for injury to their feelings.
We communicate in writing everyday through social networking sites, Twitter, emails, text, and ink on paper.
But we must take care with everything we write. We have to remember we are publishing to an audience and we have a responsibility not to bring any person’s reputation, or any business’s reputation into disrepute.
To do so, we are defaming them. This means others will see them in a poorer light. The only defence to a claim of defamation is that the written or spoken words were true.
When we speak in a defamatory way, we commit slander.
When we write in a defamatory way, we commit libel.
If you send a private letter to just one person and you are unfairly critical of them – that is not defamatory. But if you send that same letter to others or email it to more than that one person – you have published it to a third party. In that case you could be sued for defamation.
What might appear as a light-hearted comment or a joke to you, might not be taken that way.
The same goes for comments which target an individual or group because of who they are.
Comments motivated by hostility, prejudice or hatred towards someone’s actual or perceived: colour of skin, race, ethnicity, nationality and/or national origin, disability, sexual orientation, faith, religion or belief, gender or gender identity, age is considered a hate crime and is punishable under UK law.
So, when you are posting on websites, emailing (and copying others in) or Tweeting, think about what you are saying. Is it true?
It is far too easy to write something and quickly press the send button.
Pause for thought before posting. Consider: Is what I have written accurate? Is it fair? Have I checked my facts?
Ask yourself: Have I clearly expressed what I wanted to say or is it open to misinterpretation? How would I feel if someone said this about me? Would I feel my reputation was harmed?
Then, and only then, should you post.