Social media’s ugliness could possibly lead to lawsuits

By KAREN PARKER | County Line Editor

I sometimes wonder how much of my gray hair can be directly attributed to the hours of agony I have suffered from choosing to be the bearer of bad news.

Spoiler alert! Here at the “lying media,” we are not the soulless monsters we have been portrayed recently. If stuck with a knife, we do bleed, and our bodies actually do have operating tear ducts. And while there may be some journalists who chortle, “if it bleeds, it leads,” most of us do not get much pleasure shining a light on the misdeeds of others, except of course at those times when they really deserve it.

Another part of the equation has always been the law. If we don’t show restraint, we could end up on the losing end in court. Though politicians and most high-profile people can look for very little shelter from libel laws, the ordinary Jack and/or Jill often end up on the winning end, with plenty for an early retirement. The courts do not look kindly on irresponsible journalism, and many publications have ceased to exist after slapped with staggering fines for peddling misinformation.

The result was a relatively civil society, and wild accusations were confined to supermarket tabloids such as the National Enquirer, which no one but the most dense took seriously. Occasionally a victim would take offense and drag the publisher into court, where they often won the case and forced the owners of these outrageous products (I can’t really call it journalism) to take a step back, at least for a time.

Then along came Facebook, which appeared to be an innocent method of keeping track of old college friends or the grandchildren’s latest stunts.

Before those proud grandparents figured out that Facebook could tell them more about the grandchildren than they had ever wanted to know, another segment of the population figured out that Facebook was an efficient medium for spreading lies, whipping up hatred and inciting anger between people.

None of this is new to us here in the “lyin’ media.” Some irate folks turn to letter writing, hoping to use the newspaper to embarrass or punish their perceived enemies. They never quite grasp the notion that unless they can prove the allegations in their letters, they can get sued, and so can we.

And though some have valid complaints, most times, when irate letter writes are forced to slow down, they tend to rethink the whole matter.

Alas, Facebook imposes no such restraint. Last week, Ontario Police Chief Philip Welch had further proof that Facebook can be quite an ugly environment.

As a matter of fact, one might say that the “Back the Badge” movement suffered a setback.

What exactly Ontario’s top cop did to deserve such a lambasting is not entirely clear. It began with one disgruntled young man whose name would strike a familiar note to most locals, and he was then joined by numerous others evidently anxious to pile on from a position of relative obscurity.

Usually, when one takes issue with cops, it’s based on common complaints: they don’t apply the law fairly, they favor friends or town Brahmins, or they are overzealous in their speeding enforcement.

In this case, all of that got little attention. Instead, there was speculation on the sexual preferences of the officer, the fatherhood of his children, the misery he inflicts on his wife, and for good measure, a diatribe on the failings and flaws of our community.

Our intellectual genius has an impressive flare for the crude and the lewd and no shortage of blue language for Ontario’s man in blue.

A spineless Congress has made it nearly impossible to sue the social networking medium for libelous claims, in contrast with the laws that govern newspapers.

But the way is still clear for individuals. Those of you who fail to think before posting might want to reconsider your nastiness when you use Web postings to defame others. The Electronic Frontier Center urges caution. “Defamation is a false and unprivileged statement of fact that is harmful to someone’s reputation, and published ‘with fault,’ meaning as a result of negligence or malice.”

Truth, as it turns out, is the ultimate defense against lies, and the court has little patience for the liar.

In summary: while it may be fun to pillory the town cop, it might be even more fun to avoid a big, expensive lawsuit.

Then again, maybe the risk is all worth it. Some folks don’t have much to do.

 

 

 

 

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