Legal Question in Technology Law in Georgia

Myspace slander/defamation

A old friend of my daughter, created a blog on his myspace account and wrote some horrific things about her and then solicited people to read and comment about her. He blocked my daughter from reading it but several people started contacting her to let her know he was blogging about her. Are there legal actions to be taken.


Asked on 3/25/09, 9:37 am

2 Answers from Attorneys

Patrick Tracy Patrick J. Tracy, Esq, P.E.,

Re: Myspace slander/defamation

This action comes under the common law tort of "uttering and publishing". What can be done is to send a cease and desist letter to remove it from the website. If this is not successful, then suit can be brought for an injunction with the standard of proof needs to be irreparable harm to your daughter.

I suggest that you contact an attorney in Georgia to assist you.

Good luck!

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Answered on 3/25/09, 9:49 am
Charles Williamson Charles J. Williamson, Attorney At Law

Re: Myspace slander/defamation

Right out of the book: In law, defamation (also called calumny, libel, slander, and vilification) is the communication of a statement that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may give an individual, business, product, group, government or nation a negative image. It is often, but not always,[1] a requirement that this claim be false, and, or alternatively, that the publication is made to someone other than the person defamed. (So, first, make sure that the assertions being made about your daughter are, in fact, false - keeping in mind that a daughter is probably not always going to be forthcoming with her dad.)

In common law jurisdictions, slander refers to a malicious, false and defamatory spoken statement or report, while libel refers to any other form of communication such as written words or images. (What you have is libel)Most jurisdictions allow legal actions, civil and/or criminal, to deter various kinds of defamation and retaliate against groundless criticism.

Related to defamation is public disclosure of private facts, which arises where one person reveals information that is not of public concern, and the release of which would offend a reasonable person. Or an untruthful oath.[2] "Unlike [with] libel, truth is not a defense for invasion of privacy." (In other words, if this ex-friend is giving information about private matters, then he cannot defend himself by showing that they're all true).

Hope this helps some.

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Answered on 3/25/09, 9:55 am


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