2 ms·
It absolutely can be. Defamation definitions vary by state, but in general it's something like: 1. A false statement 2. Made to a third party 3. About a spec
by ThrustVectoring 7y ago
It absolutely can be. Defamation definitions vary by state, but in general it's something like:
1. A false statement
2. Made to a third party
3. About a specific person
4. That causes damages (eg, to their reputation)
If they repeat something false, it absolutely is defamation. Damages could be hard to prove or show - perhaps a business meeting at a bar would qualify. Likely way to use this is through sending the company a demand letter basically saying "remove these false statements from your database or I will sue you for defamation."
- gknoy 7y agoIf all they are doing is recording that one was thrown out of a bar, and the reason _the bar_ says it happened, those are all truthful things. They aren't saying you did that, they're saying that _the bar_ said you did that. It seems rotten, but I'm sure that's the kind of loophole they'd use as defense. :)
- ThrustVectoring 7y agoIt's complicated, but this is explicitly not recognized as a defense by courts. If Alice tells me "Bob says that Charlie started the fire", whether or not that statement is defamatory depends on whether or not Charlie actually started the fire, not on what Bob actually said. The more likely legal defense is Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which shields online service providers for liability for hosting online content from third parties.