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Hi. Thanks for replying. I wasn't sure what I was able to do and did not wish to spam. This is the article. It did not actually name him, but when he started t

Hi. Thanks for replying. I wasn't sure what I was able to do and did not wish to spam. This is the article. It did not actually name him, but when he started to harass the site, and try to have it taken down, I started to document this in further stories. Unfortunately he is unrelenting. Apologies if the language in the title offends anyone. The site has matured since then and has over 10k unique visitors per month. https://debunkingtamworth.com/2023/10/tamworth-borough-councillor-deputy-mayor-in-unsolicited-cock-shock/ https://debunkingtamworth.com/2023/10/tamworth-borough-counc...

wandaluzt 2y ago
I have now removed the post.
EA-3167 2y ago
I see, as for the language I recognize it as a familiar "bawdy and comic" style I've read in other publications in the UK. Cloudflare really seems to have done you dirty here, as you say you didn't name him in the article, which would seem to make a claim of defamation pretty hard to prove. If you can't get Cloudflare to stand behind you, or a lawyer willing to take your case, a last-ditch attempt might be to reach out to the person who made the claim you published; if they have evidence then you'd be in a much stronger position, since truth is an absolute defense against defamation in the UK. I wish you luck, I think you're being treated very unfairly here.
- wandaluzt 2y ago
  Unfortunately the post disappeared from Facebook and the person is uncontactable. I'm unfortunately not that important as a customer for Cloudflare to care. But it is rather chilling that they won't defend free speech.
  - traveler1 2y ago
    In the future, consider hosting with the following: * Flokinet (long standing host standing for freespeech, very seriously presented) * Njalla (created by PirateBay founder, will actually troll any copyright trolls, but seems reliable) * Cockbox (a silly but also likely reliable option) Also it seems that you'd have been fine using Cloudflare without giving them any identifying details - when I signed up way long ago, they didn't ask for anything... Some notes: * Flokinet offers DDOS protection. * Njalla offers Domain Registry. * cockbox is colocated through Flokinet. * Probably don't use cockbox...
    - wandaluzt 2y ago
      Thanks. I'm with Njalla for the domain now. I didn't imagine I'd ever need to go to these lengths for a political blog.
  - owisd 2y ago
    No jurisdiction is going to let you claim freedom of speech is a valid defence against libelling a private citizen.
freitasm 2y ago
I'm sorry you are going through this. I'll be blunt. I believe in the UK (as in NZ) a statement of truth or opinion is not defamatory. One would still have to go through the motions though, to prove it. Reading the blog post I am left with the feeling you are on thin ice. You don't qualify it as an opinion and it doesn't sound you have evidence to support the claims. Screenshots may not suffice. You would need witnesses and statements or documents to prove it. You will need these if the person unmasks your address and brings a case to court. As usual IANAL.
- nullc 2y ago
  > Screenshots may not suffice. You would need witnesses and statements or documents to prove it. Speaking from my own experience, Fortunately in UK civil courts are less aggressive than the US courts on laying foundation for evidence. If evidence is challenged you'll have to fight out the merits of the challenge, to be decided on a more likely than not basis. But it isn't like the US where it's so easy for evidence to be precluded on procedural grounds. OTOH, UK disclosure is way less powerful than US discovery and subponea power. The plus side for the OP is that for the same reason their opponent should have less power to damage them by fishing for private information. Unfortunately, it seems like OP's opponent has managed to buy their way into the best (for them) of all worlds by using US representation to subpoena cloudflare's records. In the UK it's unusual and extremely difficult to force third party disclosure, which means that if OP needs records from someone else to prove their case they may be screwed.
noman-land 2y ago
I can't say much about your legal situation and wish you no misfortune whatsoever but this is a gossip rag. You could and should have done more research to substantiate such a wild claim before publishing it. Surely there is ample documented evidence of this behavior.
- wandaluzt 2y ago
  It was a clear as day allegation made by someone for everyone to see. There was no more research to do. In fairness it was not what the blog was set up to do and have since reverted to cause. I was going to take the articles down but after being harassed felt less inclined.
  - crtasm 2y ago
    How can you be sure of that when you were only sent a screenshot? Why put that headline on the post without any evidence to back it up?
    - wandaluzt 2y ago
      I reported on what I saw. It is not the sites finest hour and not what I set it up to do. There were also other people emailing in saying it happened to them. Unfortunately they had no evidence. The evidence was someone saying he did that on a public Facebook post that anyone could access.
emilstahl 2y ago
Since the post have been taken down and the URL now returns 404, here is an archived copy: https://web.archive.org/web/20240527214609/https://debunkingtamworth.com/2023/10/tamworth-borough-councillor-deputy-mayor-in-unsolicited-cock-shock/ https://web.archive.org/web/20240527214609/https://debunking...

wandaluzt 2y ago

I have now removed the post.

EA-3167 2y ago

I see, as for the language I recognize it as a familiar "bawdy and comic" style I've read in other publications in the UK. Cloudflare really seems to have done you dirty here, as you say you didn't name him in the article, which would seem to make a claim of defamation pretty hard to prove. If you can't get Cloudflare to stand behind you, or a lawyer willing to take your case, a last-ditch attempt might be to reach out to the person who made the claim you published; if they have evidence then you'd be in a much stronger position, since truth is an absolute defense against defamation in the UK. I wish you luck, I think you're being treated very unfairly here.

wandaluzt 2y ago
Unfortunately the post disappeared from Facebook and the person is uncontactable. I'm unfortunately not that important as a customer for Cloudflare to care. But it is rather chilling that they won't defend free speech.
- traveler1 2y ago
  In the future, consider hosting with the following: * Flokinet (long standing host standing for freespeech, very seriously presented) * Njalla (created by PirateBay founder, will actually troll any copyright trolls, but seems reliable) * Cockbox (a silly but also likely reliable option) Also it seems that you'd have been fine using Cloudflare without giving them any identifying details - when I signed up way long ago, they didn't ask for anything... Some notes: * Flokinet offers DDOS protection. * Njalla offers Domain Registry. * cockbox is colocated through Flokinet. * Probably don't use cockbox...
  - wandaluzt 2y ago
    Thanks. I'm with Njalla for the domain now. I didn't imagine I'd ever need to go to these lengths for a political blog.
- owisd 2y ago
  No jurisdiction is going to let you claim freedom of speech is a valid defence against libelling a private citizen.

freitasm 2y ago

I'm sorry you are going through this. I'll be blunt. I believe in the UK (as in NZ) a statement of truth or opinion is not defamatory. One would still have to go through the motions though, to prove it. Reading the blog post I am left with the feeling you are on thin ice. You don't qualify it as an opinion and it doesn't sound you have evidence to support the claims. Screenshots may not suffice. You would need witnesses and statements or documents to prove it. You will need these if the person unmasks your address and brings a case to court. As usual IANAL.

nullc 2y ago
> Screenshots may not suffice. You would need witnesses and statements or documents to prove it. Speaking from my own experience, Fortunately in UK civil courts are less aggressive than the US courts on laying foundation for evidence. If evidence is challenged you'll have to fight out the merits of the challenge, to be decided on a more likely than not basis. But it isn't like the US where it's so easy for evidence to be precluded on procedural grounds. OTOH, UK disclosure is way less powerful than US discovery and subponea power. The plus side for the OP is that for the same reason their opponent should have less power to damage them by fishing for private information. Unfortunately, it seems like OP's opponent has managed to buy their way into the best (for them) of all worlds by using US representation to subpoena cloudflare's records. In the UK it's unusual and extremely difficult to force third party disclosure, which means that if OP needs records from someone else to prove their case they may be screwed.

noman-land 2y ago

I can't say much about your legal situation and wish you no misfortune whatsoever but this is a gossip rag. You could and should have done more research to substantiate such a wild claim before publishing it. Surely there is ample documented evidence of this behavior.

wandaluzt 2y ago
It was a clear as day allegation made by someone for everyone to see. There was no more research to do. In fairness it was not what the blog was set up to do and have since reverted to cause. I was going to take the articles down but after being harassed felt less inclined.
- crtasm 2y ago
  How can you be sure of that when you were only sent a screenshot? Why put that headline on the post without any evidence to back it up?
  - wandaluzt 2y ago
    I reported on what I saw. It is not the sites finest hour and not what I set it up to do. There were also other people emailing in saying it happened to them. Unfortunately they had no evidence. The evidence was someone saying he did that on a public Facebook post that anyone could access.

emilstahl 2y ago

Since the post have been taken down and the URL now returns 404, here is an archived copy: https://web.archive.org/web/20240527214609/https://debunkingtamworth.com/2023/10/tamworth-borough-councillor-deputy-mayor-in-unsolicited-cock-shock/ https://web.archive.org/web/20240527214609/https://debunking...