Internet Slander

[ForumSlander]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Georgia

Posting anonymously on a public forum, another member discovered my true identity and began connecting my real name to my user name. After doing this, that person began to publish untrue and unsubstantiated rumors about me. One other member indicated that they know people who worked with me (unsubstantiated).

I have addressed the portion of these posts that state the rumors with statements that indicate none of that which is being claimed to be anything but rumor and hearsay information. In addition I've asked that the person making those claims provide proof of the true existence of those rumors to no avail.

The poster who is posting those claims under my real name has been unable to prove any of the accusations made against me, since no clear proof can be offered that contains fact that is beyond a reasonable doubt.

The offending poster also is posting under his real name and not anonymously.

The surrounding community that reads the forum on which these posts appear is in the population of hundreds of thousands. While I am not known by most, other members of my family are known by larger numbers of in this community.

Questions:
1-Do I have adequate cause to sue for defamation of character?

2-And if so, would I have to prove actual damages to my character?

Additional information:
To the best of my knowledge no one that I know in real life, who does not post on this forum, has confronted me with the knowledge of these false accusations. However, the membership of this community forum is considerable and in the hundreds of registered posters, while the public in general and in the hundreds of thousands (if not more) do have access to read and draw conclusions from this information, whether they actually know me or not and whether that may cause future injury to me should this information be allowed to remain on display.

I have contacted the webmaster of the site and requested that the information be removed, but that has not been done. Having it removed does not un-ring a bell after that bell has pealed many times repeatedly.

[quincy]

There are an awful lot of "it depends" in any answer I can provide you. But you can certainly be defamed by an anonymous poster on an internet forum, without question.

When you are "anonymous" and identified online only by a user name, there may be others who know you in real life by both your real name and your user name. What is written about your user name person, then, can also be assumed to be true of your real name person. When your real name is revealed online, the connection is obviously made easier.

Whether you have enough for any defamation action, however, depends on the exact content of the postings, the context in which the material was posted and the injury realized from the postings. Certain false accusations made about an identified person may presume reputational injury.

You have already taken the first steps that I would recommend - addressing the poster of the untruths about the truthfulness of his charges and requesting that he and the webmaster remove the postings. These actions can sometimes successfully resolve the issue, but more often than not more will be required.

You will probably need a court order to have any defamatory content removed from the site. A court will only issue such an order if it is reasonably clear that the postings violate a law. To determine if the postings are, in fact, defamatory, and not a protected form of speech, you would need an attorney well-versed in defamation law to review the content and the context in which these postings appear.

If the attorney determines the postings can support a defamation action, the attorney could draft a cease and desist letter to the identified poster advising him that action against him is being considered and he should remove the defamatory content and refrain from posting additional unsubstantiated rumors and lies. This may, or may not, be effective.

All defamation actions are costly to pursue, and internet actions are even more so.

Good luck.

(as a note: When something defamatory is written it is called libel. Spoken defamation is slander.)