3 ms·
> No, can you cite a precedent for someone being ordered to pay almost a billion dollars for saying a mean thing on a blog. You're obsessing with the fact that
by dctoedt 4y ago
> No, can you cite a precedent for someone being ordered to pay almost a billion dollars for saying a mean thing on a blog.
You're obsessing with the fact that the total of the individual damage awards is so high. But under the law, if you defame a lot of people, they each get their own individual damage awards; they don't have to share some abstract or artificial dollar amount between them.
So you want examples of high-dollar online defamation awards? LMGTFY: A Nevada guy won a $38 million jury verdict [0]. Three New Hampshire businessmen won a jury verdict of $274 million for defamatory billboards accusing them of being crooks [1]. A South Carolina mayor won a $50 million jury verdict against someone who sent defamatory emails [2]. I haven't looked to see whether these all stood up on appeal; feel free to do your own research.
[0] https://www.robertdmitchell.com/internet-defamation https://www.robertdmitchell.com/internet-defamation
[1] https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2017-09-29/jury-awards-record-breaking-274-million-in-manchester-billboard-defamation-case https://www.nhpr.org/nh-news/2017-09-29/jury-awards-record-b...
[2] https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/south-carolina/articles/2022-02-04/jury-awards-50-million-to-sc-mayor-in-defamation-lawsuit https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/south-carolina/artic...