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Aaaaand ... the other shoe has just dropped: http://order-order.com/2013/07/24/poll-result-86-of-readers-say-sue-claire-perry-guido-has-instructed-lawyers-to-c
by cstross 13y ago
Aaaaand ... the other shoe has just dropped:
http://order-order.com/2013/07/24/poll-result-86-of-readers-say-sue-claire-perry-guido-has-instructed-lawyers-to-commence-proceedings/ http://order-order.com/2013/07/24/poll-result-86-of-readers-...
Guido Fawkes is talking to his lawyers about Libel. (Which under English law -- the reforms haven't gone through yet -- places the burden of proving that she didn't damage his reputation squarely on Claire Petty's shoulders.)
I'm just astonished that an MP appears to have been so ignorant of the law of her own land (and how it applies to twitter) that she left herself wide open to this.
- terabytest 13y agoI think this was the right thing to do on his part. Things like this are unacceptable.
- beseku 13y ago"I'm just astonished that an MP appears to have been so ignorant of the law of her own land ..." You don't know our MPs very well do you ...? I'd say this is pretty much par for the course. The only laws they know anything about are loopholes.
- nicholassmith 13y agoExcellent, after the whole furore with Bercow it'll be interesting to see whether the defamation laws will be used to the same effect. That High Court ruling set a very clear precedent about what can and can't be classed as libel, and given that there was less actual libel in her tweet compared to this then it'll be like shooting fish in a barrel. I still think the libel laws need gutting, but it'll be interesting to see them used to spectacular effect against someone who should know exactly how much trouble they'll get in.
- Nursie 13y ago>> I still think the libel laws need gutting, but it'll be interesting to see them used to spectacular effect against someone who should know exactly how much trouble they'll get in. We can only hope that by actions like these people can scare the lawmakers into actually doing something about our stupid laws.... Or if not, at least we can watch and laugh as they're on the receiving end.
- yesimahuman 13y agoIsn't this the same libel that that has been used to punish journalists who write about inconvenient truths? It seems hypocritical to stoop to that level.
- jlgreco 13y agoWhat she said could be grounds for a libel suit in the US as well. The real difference is in the defense that she could mount. Why should journalists abstain from defending themselves from libel in the UK just because others abuse those laws to attack journalists? Suggesting that journalists should not defend themselves from libel just because others abuse libel laws to shut down journalists is damn near concern trolling.
- Tyrannosaurs 13y agoExactly, bad law is bad law and if you like free speech you should like it regardless who is speaking. Personally I don't see this going anywhere near court. Guido may have some fun here but he's a political journalist with a Conservative leaning, he isn't going to start seriously threatening an Conservative MP. He'll milk the publicity, wring a minor apology out of her and it'll go no further than that.
- rmc 13y agoSure that particular law has been used that, since it's England's Libel law. However what she did was libel, and would be considered libel in basically every country with a libel law.
- pbhjpbhj 13y agoWRT the libel claim, I think he did promote the website defacement. Ergo he was a "sponsor" to it. Her tweet to that effect appears to be true [a partial defence], and as he is happy to have promoted it based on his blog I'd warrant it to be impossible to prove that it defamed him to say that he promoted the crack. Indeed he revelled in the promotion of said defacement. Case dismissed.