UK Trolls May See Legal Response To Defamation
Defamation of other users in comments could now come with a consequence.
The responsibility of users attacking users and authors in comments may be shifting from the website to the author of a comment. A recently introduced Defamation Bill discussed by the UK parliament suggests that websites would not be responsible for the postings of its users anymore, as long as they are willing to reveal a user's identity. The move is largely seen as a way to contain Internet trolling in which users tend to attack other users in a defamatory way.
There is no indication that a similar bill could succeed in the U.S. given the argument that the Defamation Bill may be violating the right of free speech, even if the free speech of some is harming others.
"Already there have been quite a lot of prosecutions for trolling but we actually think the public are entitled to proper protection against it," justice secretary Ken Clarke said in a statement. Clarke believes that a new defamation law could "strengthen freedom of expression by ensuring that material was not taken down from the internet without the author being given an opportunity to defend it", according to a FT article.
Of course, one could easily argue that online defamation should be held to the same standards as defamation in the real world, which would give Clarke's bill substantial grounds to succeed. Common sense suggests to treat others with respect and if you don't, there will be consequences to go along with it. If you engage in defamation in the real world, there may be legal consequences. Soon, there could be consequences online as well.

Oh god.
Oh god.
At least in the US, a jury of 12 of your peers do. As is the custom, you make it sound like it would be something new.....
Posting a comment should be no different then saying something on the phone, or in a newspaper, or writing something in a book, or any other form of speech. There are already defamation laws on the books, why do we need more?
As long as you attack the ideas in an internet reply, you can call them stupid all you want. Just dont attack the author and post false things about them and you are fine. What normal person does this anyway? I never have in the 10s of thousands of posts ive made on the internet...its not hard.... Which is no different then any other form of speech i use.
harsh words but true... there are very few cases in which your opinion is a unerversal truth for everyone, and should be ready at all times to get mocked and made fun of by everyone else who doesn't share that view.
case in point, a person was writing a story, he mentioned that he believed in a religion that was in a zelda game or something (details there are vauge because i wasnt part of the conversation) but needless to say, a clearly fake religion, and got mocked, so he rage quit writing the storys.
if you do anything, prepare to be mocked.
To do such a thing would open me up to both criminal and civil litigation, AS WELL IT OUGHT TO. Why is this so hard to comprehend that the same laws should apply to cyberspace?
Some would argue that ALL religions are fake, and people have the right to believe that as well. But there are lines that can be crossed. There is a difference between respectful debate and legal harassment.
Most epic form of trolling yet.
Thanks UK, I needed a new way to troll people.
/e I love how they claim to be able to know exactly who you are when posting a comment on a forums. Like they have any possible means to know how to identify who is who to know who to send the bill to. Same thing as to how US government no longer connects citizens to an I.P. address since anyone can be on your I.P.. Same concept.
I suspect the UK government is trolling people.
So much so that people will start trolling people into making rage comments getting them sued over something they were trolled into saying and or hacked accounts getting taken over by spam bots to get sent to forums/threads to spam hateful/racist/ignorant/dissrespectful/distasteful/illegal content.
You'd suddenly start to understand and to care about the whole concept of "defamation".
Now, if you don't know, in civilized countries with fair laws, if someone discriminates you or fire you just for online (and unproved) comments from the internet (or other sources), you can sue the company or people for that.
Ignorant people judge with comments. Smart people judge with proved facts.