2 ms·
I'm pretty sure that in the US, it not only has to be false, but the person making the statement must have either known it to be false, or shown negligence in n
by mschy 17y ago
I'm pretty sure that in the US, it not only has to be false, but the person making the statement must have either known it to be false, or shown negligence in not verifying the veracity of the statement.
- btilly 17y agoThat's right. However this varies by country. The extreme example being England, where the truth of the statement doesn't matter. Libel lawsuits in England are similar to patent lawsuits in Texas - you know that the venue was chosen mainly because the person filing the suit wanted the friendliest court possible.
- rbanffy 17y agoI am ashamed to say that here in Brazil the situation is very similar. It is very easy to bring litigation upon someone who said something someone else doesn't find appropriate and to go as far as censoring the information. There is currently one major newspaper that is under censorship that prevents it from reporting on a corrupt former president who is currently serving as a senator and his family. The freedom of speech devices in the Constitution prohibit anonymity, rendering themselves ineffective.