A Brief Description of Libel Laws
Libel laws protect people from defamation, which may be caused by fake information spread by other people. They protect only from intentionally false or twisted information about a person or organization published to harm them (Defamation and False Statements, n.d.) There is the clarification that the First Amendment protects freedom of speech; thus, fact-based critique or debates are not considered libelous. In that way, if a plaintiff cannot prove that the information is false and posted intentionally, the court will likely not satisfy the claim.
Libel Law Applying to Social Media
Social media are a massive instrument for communicating, including its negative forms, including libel. There are several peculiarities in libel law’s application to social media. First, as social media are present worldwide, various libel laws exist in different countries, making their appliance harder (Corredoira et al., 2021). Second, there is an extremely large amount of information on social media, and there is hard to check whether it is true (Ross et al., 2020). Third, as the Internet provides anonymity, hate speeches are widespread there: they are highly detractive, and laws can poorly protect those who suffer from them (Lipschultz, 2018). Lastly, Internet providers and social media owners cannot be sued by libel law. In case of libel, a plaintiff should identify the guilty and prove that their statements are false, harmful, and posted intentionally (Stewart, 2022). To summarize, there is quite easy to be labeled in the Internet media. To protect oneself, one should use clear facts to maintain one’s reputation and be able to sue a malefactor in case of trouble.
Best Practices Pertaining to Libel Law When Using the Company’s Social Media Account
Below, a list of five practices is provided: each of them is defined briefly and will be explained in the next section.
- Use reliable sources as links to be sure that all information present in the post may be checked. All personal opinions should be written first person, clearly stating that there are opinions.
- Always avoid hate speeches, even if something or someone should be criticized.
- Emphasize facts that may be proven true or false rather than opinions.
- When communicating with partners and writing about them, especially when criticizing them, learn in which country they are registered.
- Be ready to admit that the opinion was wrong if it was contradictory to facts, and apologize for it.
Explanations
Following those five practices may protect from libeling others and becoming a target for libel.
- Using reliable sources strengthens one’s posts and makes them more valuable in a large amount of information on social media. It makes involvement in libel less likely, and in case of the involvement, one will have solid evidence in one’s favor.
- Hate speeches are highly abusive and libelous by themselves, and by using them even slightly in an official company’s account, one may be accused of libel. It is much safer and more constructive to criticize based on facts only and without any hostility.
- The reliance on facts is much stronger than reliance on opinions, and it maintains the company’s reputation. If someone libels the company, the falseness of publications will be proven by facts that show that the company is innocent, and then the malefactor may be sued. In addition, if the company itself is accused of libel, claims will easily be disproved by pointing out those facts again.
- As mentioned, one of social media’s peculiarities is that they work in different legal fields. Libel laws that are actual for other parties may differ from those in the United States, and one would better be familiar with them.
Being able to admit one’s mistakes strengthens the company’s value and reputation and lowers the chance of being involved in libel.
References
Corredoira, L., Bel Mallen, I., & Cetina Presuel, R. (2021). The handbook of communication rights, law, and ethics: Seeking universality, equality, freedom and dignity. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Defamation and False Statements. (n.d.). Constitution Annotated | Library of Congress. Web.
Lipschultz, J. H. (2018). Social media communication: Concepts, practices, data, law and ethics. Routledge.
Ross, S. D., Reynolds, A., & Trager, R. (2020). The law of journalism and mass communication. Sage Publications, Inc.
Stewart, D. R. (2022). Social media and the law: A guidebook for communication students and professionals (3rd ed.). Taylor & Francis Group.