Can I Be Liable for Forwarding Defamatory Email?

 A California appeals court has weighed in on the sticky question of when the forwarder of a potentially defamatory email loses Communications Decency Act (”CDA”) section 230 immunity. 

In Hung Tan Phan v. Lang Van Pham, the President of a group of Vietnamese Navy and Merchant Marine veterans sent an email to fellow veterans. In the email, he wrote that another veteran, Hung Tan Phan, had been disciplined by the Vietnamese Navy for abusive behavior in the final days of the Vietnam War.

Lang Van Pham received the email and forwarded it to at least one fellow veteran. He included the following introductory paragraph: “Dear Kmap: Everything will come out to the daylight, I invite you and our classmates to read the following comments of [the] … President of the Federation of Associations of the Republic of Vietnam Navy and Merchant Marine.” Read more »

Gripe Site Did Not Have to Remove Defamatory Post

A recent federal court case in Illinois demonstrates just how hard it is for people who are defamed online to remove offending posts. 

When two individuals posted on four Web sites a variety of unflattering statements about David, Mary, and Lisa Blockowicz, the Blockowicz’s sued the posters for a preliminary injunction on the ground they had been defamed. When the defendants defaulted, the court entered a permanent injunction requiring the defendants to remove the defamatory postings from the four Web sites. Three of the Web sites removed the posts. One Web site (www.ripoffreport.com) did not. One of the offending posts — which remains online – is here. Read more »

Did Courtney Love’s Tweets Libel a Designer?

When Courtney Love allegedly posted on Twitter that fashion designer Dawn Simorangkir was an “asswipe nasty lying hosebag thief”; and on MySpace that Simorangkir was a prostitute and drug addict; and on the Web site – ”Etsy” (where Simorangkir sold products) that the designer “stole cash and goods” from Love – she probably didn’t have a second thought. After all, Ms. Love was upset at having to pay Ms. Simorangkir’s invoice for clothing and apparel designs. And what is social media if not a place to voice an opinion about vendors whom you don’t want to pay? Read more »