Online publishers and hosts launch libel reform campaign
November 28, 2010 |
Facebook, Yahoo!, AOL, the Internet Service Providers’ Association and others have written an open letter to David Cameron asking the Government to change the law so that hosts and publishers do not have to take down any material that might be libellous until a court tells them to. They also want a public interest defence to libel.
In their letter the groups say the English law of defamation is having a disproportionate, chilling effect on online writers, e-communities and web hosts
Laws based on the E-Commerce Directive say that intermediaries are not responsible for unlawful material they allow others to publish until they gain actual or constructive knowledge that it breaks the law. At that point they become resonsible for it unless they take it down quickly.
Both the ruling Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties pledged to reform the libel laws in their manifestos before this year’s general election. The Government said in July that it would publish a new Defamation Bill early in 2011. The Bill is reported to give writers and commentators more rights at the expense of people suing for libel.
