A ‘Flood of Cases’ Take Aim at Anonymous Internet Critics
Anonymous comments on newspaper websites and blogs are spurring litigation, although plaintiffs often fail to win defamation awards.
Harvard Law School professor David Ardia, director of the school’s Citizen Media Law Project, tells the Associated Press that such suits are on the upswing. ”We’re seeing a flood of cases involving anonymous comments,” he told the wire service. Such cases often fail, however, because of free speech protections.
In one case, the former dean of Pace Law School, Richard Ottinger, obtained identifying information for a critic who accused him and his wife of paying bribes to obtain a home construction permit. A judge tossed Ottinger’s $1.5 million defamation suit in late August. The court said the case was barred by a New York law limiting defamation suits when people comment on matters of public interest, according to the Online Media Daily.
In another case that got dismissed, a couple sued a newspaper in Ottawa, Ill., in an effort to learn the identity of a commenter who accused them of bribing planning commissioners so they could convert their home into a bed and breakfast. An appeal is pending, according to MyWebTimes.
