Publishers will no longer be held liable for posting defamatory comments written by others.

First of all, I'm not a lawyer. In a previous post called Blogs and Libel, I wrote that the person who has the power to delete a comment is ultimately responsible for it.

But the California Supreme Court says web publishers are not liable for defamation (link via Yugatech).

I dunno. It's so easy to put up a blog nowadays. If people really wanted to post snarky or even bordering-on-defamatory comments, why not just post it in their own blog? If they really want more exposure, they can do a trackback on a popular blog and thus gain more visibility.

Oh, I get it. If they post it on their own blog, then they become liable because they wrote it themselves. But if they anonymously put the comment in someone else's blog, then that other person is protected by this new ruling because the other blogger is not considered a "publisher" of the comment (third party content).

It sounds great, doesn't it? Until, of course, you're the one being lambasted online. In a popular blog. Or in blogs. By some anonymous flamer.

What can you do? Put up your own blog.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see how this will affect the future content of blogs, particular those which talk about politics.

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"Blog Comments and Libel"
First Posted: November 21, 2006 | Filed in: General

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