Communication Law and Policy

1. LIBEL AND THE INTERNET:
ANALYSIS ON MODERN
DEFAMATION
Khylie Kight

2. Intro
◦ Reputation is a key component of modern society
◦ Reputation affects careers, family and friends, and likelihood of success
◦ Defamation Law protects individuals from malicious degradation
◦ The changing face of media will bring change to the law as well

3. Brief History
◦ Defamation is “the publication of material that would tend to hold one
up in hatred, ridicule, contempt, or spite
◦ New York Times v. Sullivan
◦ Defined that defamation must fall under “actual malice”
◦ Dendrite International v. Doe
◦ Set up the Dendrite test which is the current standard for revealing an anonymous
individuals identity
◦ Gertz v. Welch
◦ You must prove negligence to receive defamatory damages
◦ Milkovich v. Lorain Journal Co.
◦ A statement must be provably false to be defamatory

4. Analysis
◦ Heidi Keuhl
◦ “increased use of social media brings a greater responsibility to use it properly”
◦ Margo Reder
◦ “employers suits… are worrisome because of the potential for extra-judicial action”
◦ Raymond Placid
◦ Twitter and Libel have been “problematic for lower courts because the internet
blurs the line between traditional and social media”

5. Conclusion
◦ The current state of internet defamation law is in temporary disarray
◦ The internet will continue to grow exponentially so we must grow to
meet it by finding defining:
◦ When it’s okay to reveal anonymous users
◦ When is republication faulted on the republished
◦ How do you define a private and public figure in a changing public sphere