British Ruling Sets Standards for Twitter Libel

(cross posted at the Digital Media Law Project)
A British judge's decision that a tweet by Sally Bercow (wife of the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow) libeled Lord Robert Alistair McAlpine (former Deputy Chairman and Party Treasurer of the Conservative Party and an aide to Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher) shows -- if anyone still had doubts -- that tweets can indeed be libelous. In doing so, the ruling provides a good model for analyzing Twitter posts to determine whether they are defamatory.

Social Media in Court Down Under

A panel of academics (including my friend Mark Pearson of Griffith University) has issued a report commissioned by the Attorney General of the Australian state of Victoria on the issues involving jurors' use of social media, including recommendations for dealing with the issue.

Banned in (much of) Britain, And Beyond?

(cross posted at the Citizen Media Law Project)
Social media are abuzz about a English Premier League footballer ("soccer player" to us Yanks) Ryan Giggs, who has obtained an order from a British court requiring Twitter to reveal the identity of various tweeters who identified him as having had an affair with model and Big Brother contestant Imogen Thomas.

The Trouble with "Twibel"

In coverage of the first libel settlement award in Britain stemming from a posting on Twitter, a number of articles state that in the United States, libel via Twitter is referred to as "twibel." 

First Twitter Libel Damages, By the Pound

While the two American lawsuits that each could have been the first known defamation suit stemming from a Twitter posting both settled (for details, click here and here), the settlement of a British case has now led to the first damage award in that county in a Twitter defamation case: £3,000 in damages (~ $4,840), plus £50,000 (~ $80,730) in court costs.

U.K. Extends Consumer Disclosure Laws Online, As In U.S.

(cross posted at the Citizen Media Law Project)
The Office of Fair Trading, the British equivalent of the United States Federal Trade Commission, has determined that the hiring of bloggers and other social media contributors to promote particular products without adequate disclosure of the relationship may violate U.K. consumer protection laws. Handpicked Media Ltd (Handpicked Media), Case Ref. CRE-E-25932 (OFT Dec. 13, 2010).  This is the first time these laws have been applied online.

This is similar to the stance that the FTC has taken in a 2009 update to its "Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising," which includes disclosure requirements for similar arrangements.  I and others have written extensively about the guides and their application.

Intriguing First Look at Juror Tweeting

Here's an intriguing article on juror tweeting, looking at some examples the author found of tweets from Britain discussing jury duty.