Being Careless about Facts in Your Blog Posts Can Lead to Lawsuits

An article in yesterday’s LA Times reported in the increase of lawsuits in the US involving bloggers, specifically in regards to slander, defamation and threats, but also misinformation.

Media law experts repeat the advice that bloggers and e-mailers need to think twice before sending a message.

“The first thing people need to realize, they can be held accountable for what they say online,” Baron said. “Before you speak ill of anyone online, you should think hard before pressing the ‘send’ button.”

Of course the Internet has provided soap boxes to anyone who has something to gripe about.

“There’s a false sense of safety on the Internet,” said Kimberley Isbell, a lawyer for the Citizen Media Law Project at Harvard University. “If you think you can be anonymous, you may not exercise the same judgment” before posting a comment, she said.

Thinking twice before we blog should be easier than thinking twice before we speak, no?

Reference:

• Blogger beware: Postings can lead to lawsuits | Los Angeles Times, Tribune Washington Bureau |  David G. Savage | 23 August 23 2010

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1. Critically Reading Web Content: We Haven’t Necessarily Gotten Any Better At This
2. Journalists Use Blogs for Research but Don’t Trust the Facts