Anonymity no longer guaranteed online

The Internet is no longer an unaccountable “wild west” and those who wish to defame others should beware that their anonymity is no longer guaranteed, say lawyers.

In Applause Store Productions and another v Raphael [2008] All ER (D) 321 (Jul) the claimant was awarded a total of £22,000 after it was found that a former school friend had set up a fake profile on social networking site Facebook. The profile made allegations over the claimant’s sexuality and political views while detailing private information including his date of birth, whereabouts and relationship status. The defendant was traced by using the IP address of his computer. When challenged he suggested that strangers had used his computer to set up the account, a defence dismissed in the High Court as “built on lies”.

Isabel Hudson, associate and specialist in libel and privacy law at Carter-Ruck, says: “The case serves as a reminder that it’s not just the press who can find themselves on the receiving end of a libel or privacy claim. Anyone using a social networking site should think twice before posting defamatory material or private information about others.”

She continues, “As the defendant discovered to his cost, even seemingly anonymous attacks may be traced back to the person responsible. The claimant obtained a Norwich Pharmacal order that Facebook disclose its records revealing that the offending pages were created on Mr Raphael’s computer”.

Hudson says that, providing websites and ISPs act in a timely manner to remove of fending content when alerted, the liability for any false allegations will fall squarely on the individual: “Sites that do not routinely edit or moderate content have a degree of protection under the Defamation Act 1996 and the Electronic Commerce (EC Directive) Regulations 2002, if they did not know and had no reason to believe they were publishing defamatory allegations or private information.”

She continues, “This defence is lost however if the website continues to publish the offending material once it has been put on notice of it—ISPs should therefore take swift action to remove any pages which are the subject of a complaint.”