Defamation on Internet brings increasing user/forum risks

A news release today tells of a former Internet forum operator whose book royalties are being seized to compensate a victim of defamation, revealing again some of the increasing user/forum/ risks in social networking.

The plaintiff in the case is represented by Yutaka Saito whose filing against publisher, Shinchosa Publishing Company, comes after the manager of Japan's largest Internet bulletin board, 2 Channel, ignored the order of a court to pay a victim over defamatory online messages.

This lawsuit in Japan , reported by the online press, comes on the heels of repeated concerns expressed by individuals and groups about Internet defamation.

Discussion continues over Internet defamation and the potential for lawsuits large and small.In a recent article, on technology and change, an educator, John Adsist, examines the issue from the perspective of individuals who are involved with students who may make defamatory comments. He underlines the cost of defending some of these lawsuits and the risks of social networking sites where both the owners and users might be affected.

In the article Adsist discusses a case regarding scuba diving. This is his summation of the story:

"An accurate story was posted about the death of a diver and the illness of the rest of the group of divers, presumably from contaminated air in their tanks. Discussion followed predictable paths. Without going into too much detail (in part because I am not sure what the ramifications may be for me), the party identified as responsible for the accident, which occurred in the Maldives, is suing the American-based discussion forum for lost business as a result of the bad publicity. The owner of the discussion board, the largest of its kind in the world, estimates that his cost of defending against the suit will be anywhere from $10,000-$100,000."

Swett and Crawford, a firm that does risk assessments, discusses the issue of defamation and social networking sites in an article written last month. Their concern is the behavior of employees of businesses on social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter and how this might impact those businesses. The article underlines the value of protection for businesses by taking active control and establishing certain rules for interaction on some of these sites.

In the meantime, the Japanese publisher of the forum, Shincosa Publishing, faces hundreds of thousands of yen in compensation payments.