Defamation on facebook threats

[tamarindleaves]

What is the name of your state? GA

An old enemy of mine recently visited the town where i now live (let's call him "Ted"). Actually encountered him by ill fate. Someone who talked to him told me that he kept trying to start up malicious conversations about me. So I exploded because of my intense past hatred of him, and I friended him on facebook and insulted him on his facebook. I also posted a picture of a private facebook group i was once in that centered around him being a do***bag, just to show him how much everyone was ticked off with his behavior. Then some friend of his (let's call him "Jim") started defending and insulting me back. I retaliated back and accused Jim of once crapping his pants in class, a rumor i took to be true. Honestly, I also called him a ginger and insulted his mother. All pretty childish, i know, but you do crazy things in flights of rage.

anyway Jim is now saying he will do the following if i do not apologize to him and his friend publicly:

-send all the conversations to my university in order to screw over my academic career
-sue me Defamation of Character (over the crapped his pants comment and facebook group)
-keep tabs on where I try to work so he can send the same information to my future employers
-encourage Ted to sue me the same way

and has accuse me of participating in a hate group against that "showed every single member in the group who (if things are fixed) may go to court for being guilty by association"


somehow a lot of this sounds like legal garbage to me. some of it even sounds like Jim is trying to blackmail me into an apology. i am an *extremely* prideful person, so where exactly do i stand in all this? thanks all.

 

[quincy]

You and Ted and Jim were really stupid to post mean things about each other.

If all of you have thousands and thousands of dollars to spend on court suits, and all of you have a lot of time on your hands to waste, you could all sue each other for defamation. I doubt if any of you would win, however, since you need to show reputational injury (pants-pooping does not really qualify) and damages, and you were all guilty of defaming each other.

I suggest all of you remove the offending material from Facebook, stay OFF Facebook from now on, and concentrate on university studies. The university, by the way, has no interest in stupid arguments between students, but whatever you post on Facebook or MySpace or YouTube or wherever, can follow you for life - employers often check these sites to get background information on prospective employees. They do not want to hire those who seem immature or irresponsible. Now would be a good time to grow up.

 

[tamarindleaves]

yes i know, as i stated, that it's all very childish, but regardless, i just want to forget these people and erase them from my life, but I am not the one pressing the issue.

 

[quincy]

First, I want to apologize for my first post. I sounded rather ornery.

Second, I really don't think Jim or Ted will press this issue as far as a courtroom. A case as weak as theirs would have very very little chance of succeeding, and the expense involved in bringing suit would be prohibitive for either of them, more than likely. In other words, there would be a lot of money spent but no money gained from such an action.

If I were you, I would delete your postings about them and apologize. Hopefully they will do likewise. Then all of you can go on your separate merry ways.

 

[tsmommy]

For some reason I found your post funny. Immature but funny. They can't do anything legally. You have a right to free speech. And if you think someone is a lousy person and you put it in writing as long as it's what you think they can't have you arrested or do anything really. And they would have to prove what you said was wrong. If this guy has red hair and you called him a ginger it's just an insult. And I'm not sure what you said to isult his mother but his mother would have to prove she isn't whatever you said she is. And most insults are a matter of opinion unless you called her fat and her bmi is actually in the overweight category. Not much she can say about that. You can't go to jail for insulting someone. And if the guy didn't crap his pants he would have to prove it. How is he going to prove that? Really you don't have to erase anything from facebook or apologize legally. But if you think the issue will cause other problems then erase it. But don't apologize if you don't feel you don't have to.

 

[quincy]

tsmommy -

I wish people would stop saying it is okay to print or say whatever they want because it is free speech. Free speech has limits and opinions can be defamatory if they imply false fact. Yes, people can say mean things and, unfortunately, they do all the time. Some mean things said, however, can end in a courtroom.

Plus, the person who sues someone else for defamation does not have to prove that what was said is false. The person who is being sued must prove that what they said is true, if they want to defend themselves against a defamation suit. Or they can use opinion as a defense. But there is a very very fine line between opinion and implied fact, and that fine line can cost someone a lot of money in a lost lawsuit. "Opinion" does not give anyone the legal right to say whatever they want about someone, if their opinion is false, defamatory, and if there is anyone anywhere that can construe that opinion as fact.

So, tsmommy, while I think the odds of anyone winning any sort of defamation suit in this case is pretty close to nil, your "advice" to tamarindleaves was legally wrong and foolishly naive. There are over 4 lawsuits a day being brought in this country over postings on sites such as Facebook and MySpace and YouTube et al. And most of these suits are over the same sort of "free speech" that you are telling tamarindleaves is okay.

The best advice I can give anyone is to avoid saying defamatory things about anyone ever. And if you think that you can say anything you want about anyone you want, then start saving up your money for an attorney, because you may very well need one in the future.

 

[tsmommy]

tsmommy -

I wish people would stop saying it is okay to print or say whatever they want because it is free speech. Free speech has limits and opinions can be defamatory if they imply false fact. Yes, people can say mean things and, unfortunately, they do all the time. Some mean things said, however, can end in a courtroom.

Plus, the person who sues someone else for defamation does not have to prove that what was said is false. The person who is being sued must prove that what they said is true, if they want to defend themselves against a defamation suit. Or they can use opinion as a defense. But there is a very very fine line between opinion and implied fact, and that fine line can cost someone a lot of money in a lost lawsuit. "Opinion" does not give anyone the legal right to say whatever they want about someone, if their opinion is false, defamatory, and if there is anyone anywhere that can construe that opinion as fact.

So, tsmommy, while I think the odds of anyone winning any sort of defamation suit in this case is pretty close to nil, your "advice" to tamarindleaves was legally wrong and foolishly naive. There are over 4 lawsuits a day being brought in this country over postings on sites such as Facebook and MySpace and YouTube et al. And most of these suits are over the same sort of "free speech" that you are telling tamarindleaves is okay.

The best advice I can give anyone is to avoid saying defamatory things about anyone ever. And if you think that you can say anything you want about anyone you want, then start saving up your money for an attorney, because you may very well need one in the future.

Well that doesn't make any sense. Because politicians slam eachother every day in ads. Hollywood stars are constantly slamming eachother. What is free speech for then? All of the people who gossip are committing crimes? I did not feel the information I gave him was false. And if I think someone is a lousy person. And I say they are on myspace. How can they prove they aren't a lousy person. Because what I feel may make a person lousy another person may think it's ok. I didn't mean to give bad advice. But if people want to sue everyone that ever said/posted something negative about them then everyone in the world would be in a lawsuit.

 

[quincy]

We certainly value free speech in our country. One example of this freedom of speech is how openly we can express our views of those holding political power. Our country guards our right to criticize and to comment (opinion), and nowhere is our right to criticize and comment more free than when it comes to criticizing our government and our public officials, or anyone who places themselves or their work in the public eye for review (like artists, musicians, movie stars).

On the other hand, there have always been limits placed on this freedom. There are other values that can take priority. And we have laws that protect these other values - defamation laws (to protect reputations), privacy torts (to protect invasions of privacy), national security assertions (to protect our country from threats against it), laws regulating advertising (to protect the consumer from false claims), laws regulating broadcasters (to protect the viewers from obscenities and pornography), and laws regulating the Internet, etc. All of these laws relate to free speech and the limits that are placed upon it.

In addition, public officials can sue for defamation and invasion of privacy and any other violation of their rights - and they do. Celebrities can sue for defamation and invasion of privacy and any other violation of their rights - and they do.

The chances of being sued in this country are pretty substantial, considering the number of lawyers we have. In the 1990s, for instance, two-thirds of all lawyers in the world were lawyering in the U.S. Even as far back as 1987, there were approximately 15 million lawsuits filed in the U.S. - one for every 16 Americans in the country at the time. And there are MORE lawyers now, and with them come MORE lawsuits.

These are litigious times. Review some of the posts on this forum alone. People want to sue Pepsi because a Pepsi bottle broke, or they want to sue a neighbor because the neighbor's dog barks, or they want to sue a police officer for stopping them on suspicion of drunk driving (when they only had 5 drinks over an hour earlier). People are looking to sue.

Yes, opinion is free speech. You can generally say what you think. If what you say can be neither proved nor disproved, then that is opinion and that can be a fine defense in a lawsuit. Truth is a fine defense in a lawsuit. But, whenever you start saying what you think about someone, anyone, truth or not, opinion or not, there is a chance you can be sued by this someone/anyone. This fine defense of yours does not prevent a lawsuit, nor does it prevent you from spending a lot of money and a lot of time to bring up your defense in court.

THAT is why I say it is better to not say mean things at all about anyone. Especially not on the Internet, where exposure is great and damages awarded can be greater. What is gossip to you may be a successful lawsuit against you to another.

 

[SHORTY LONG]

Outstanding Quincy!

 

[quincy]

Thanks, Shorty.
I sort of sometimes get a wee bit carried away.

 

[>Charlotte<]

I sort of sometimes get a wee bit carried away.

Yeah, but carried away + intelligent + literate =
On the other hand, carried away + ignorant + juvenile =