Introduction
Over the past decade, people around the world have commonly been using social media and the Internet to communicate personal views and beliefs. As a result, there have been an increasing number of defamatory comments or statements made on various media platforms. The Internet has numerous websites and resources that individuals can use to leave a potentially defamatory post or comment, either accidentally or deliberately. To address this problem, it is important to understand types of defamation, such as libel and slander, and develop effective policies that guide online communication. Considering UAE as an example, it can be stated that relevant laws, declarations, and regulations that govern defamation in the country are complex and highly fact-specific.
Definition of Overview of the Concept of Defamation
Defamation refers to an unprivileged falsehood statement made to damage the reputation of a company or a person. In the UAE, defamation amounts to a criminal offense having both the offense and its sentence set under the Federal Decree Law 31 of 2021 as per the UAE Penal Code (Abdel-Nabi & Lester, 2019). Via a civil action, a victim may receive monetary compensation for the damage committed by the perpetrator. There are two major defamation crimes stipulated under Article 372 and Article 373 of the UAE Constitution. Article 372 concerns publicity that exposes a victim to public contempt or hatred. Article 373 concerns a false accusation that discredits or dishonors the victim in the public image (Nasser, 2022). A defamatory comment or statement has the potential to make victims subjected to humiliation or punishment in their society.
Further, defamatory statements can be made on social media or other electronic sites and messengers, email, and SMS. These can constitute a criminal offense under UAE Federal Law Number 5 of 2012 (Elhais, 2022). Article 20 under the Cyber Crime Law makes it an offense to abuse others or attribute them to events that can make them subjected to contempt or punishment by other people. In addition, it is prohibited under the Cyber Crime Law set in Article 39 for the operator or owner of an information network or a website to knowingly provide or store unlawful content (Abdel-Nabi & Lester, 2019). Hence, it implies that group and website administrators can be accountable for inappropriate statements posted by their community members.
Punishment for defamatory statements
Defamation can be punishable with a fine, imprisonment, or both based on the form of defamatory action committed by an accused. This includes cases when the defamatory remarks render a victim subjected to contempt or punishment, when it harms one’s dignity or honor, or when the defamatory remarks were published in a newspaper or other media (Duffy, 2018). The UAE Penal Code under Articles 425 and 426 stipulates the defamation offense. Under Article 425, a person found to defame another publicly by imposing facts on him that may render one subjected to contempt or punishment shall receive a jail sentence not surpassing 2 years. They can also be sentenced to pay a fine that does not exceed AED 20,000. Under Article 426, a person who insults another person publicly and injures their dignity shall be accountable for a jail sentence not exceeding a year or a fine not surpassing AED 20,000 (Elhais, 2022). These types of punishment are meant to restore order and integrity in the media.
Why defamation is seen as complex and highly fact-specific
For a person to succeed with the criminal offense grievance for defamation, the complainant should first prove that the defamatory statement was made. The complexity of this system also derives from the fact that to win an online defamation case, the plaintiff should first establish who is the publisher or writer of the statement (Witting, 2018). Further, this statement should be issued to a third party either orally or in writing, and it must be unprivileged. Lastly, it should be proved that the statement has caused injury or harm to the victim (Duffy, 2018). In case any of these elements is lacking, the complaint’s merits may be undermined.
Defamation assertions have become complex and challenging to prove, as laws governing them have to strike a balance between permitting people to protect their images and allowing the free exchange of ideas, opinions, and information. One may defend oneself against a lawsuit of defamation if the remarks or statement made were true, fair privileged, retracted, or constitute an opinion. One case study that can be considered as an example of this is the recent case of Campbell v. Dugdale (Campbell v. Dugdale CSIH 27, 2020). In this case, the individual committing defamation presented a defense that was considered a fair comment, and the plaintiff’s appeal was dismissed. Opinions cannot be termed defamatory statements; hence, somebody is free to portray a local politician as inexperienced (Simmons, 2022). This is because opinions are protected under the opinion privilege even though this has restrictions. Exaggerated or satirical language can be confined under defamation law. If defamatory remarks are not considered as views, they can still be guarded under the truth defense (Duffy, 2018). Therefore, an individual who desires to successfully sue another person for defamation should prove the remarks are false.
Moreover, some jurisdictions such as the US and the UK have retraction statutes that offer protection from lawsuits of defamation if a publisher or writer retracts the allegedly defamatory remarks. Tracing a person who has posted a defamatory statement may also be challenging because one can locate the computer used to publish the statement. Nevertheless, if this is a public computer, it becomes almost impractical to narrow down the search to get to the culprit (Witting, 2018). The fact that the Internet can be accessed from many public places further complicates the process of identifying the source of illegal content publication.
Slander and Libel
Libel and slander are types of defamation that refer to a false statement presented as a fact to damage a person’s reputation or image. Slander refers to the defamation committed in speech; for instance, as a transcribed audio file, podcast, or video. Libel, on the other hand, refers to written defamation, such as texts and articles posted on various websites, in newspapers, or distributed via email or SMS (Elhais, 2022). Online defamation can happen as libel cases when a person posts a comment, review, blog post, bulletin board post, or rating. Libel standards differ based on whether the subject is a private individual or a public figure. Actual malice should be proven for a public figure to succeed in a libel assertion (Duffy, 2018). Under the common law, slander and libel are examined under distinct sets of standards, which identify libel as a more seriously wrong than slander.
Conclusion
In the current era of digitalization, information is increasing rapidly on the Internet. Nevertheless, it can pose certain risks in terms of communication that takes place on various social media platforms. It is important to remember that online communication is also governed by state laws and social media users need to be considerate with the content they post. They need to understand that the line between libel and truth is not always well articulated; hence, they should avoid making comments that can be ambiguous and cause harm to others.
References
Abdel-Nabi, S., & Lester, A. (2019). Defamation and social media in the UAE : Clyde & Co. Clyde & Co. Web.
Campbell v. Dugdale CSIH 27, BRODIES (Sheriff Appeal Court, 2020). Web.
Duffy, M. J. (2018). Media law in the United Arab Emirates (2nd ed.).Wolters Kluwer
Elhais, H. (2022). What’s the jurisdiction in civil defamation cases in the UAE? – Libel & defamation – United Arab Emirates. Mondaq. Web.
Nasser, J. (2022). UAE: Sweeping legal ‘Reforms’ deepen repression, says HRW. Eurasia Review. Web.
Simmons, S. (2022). In brief: Media law and regulation in United Arab Emirates. Lexology. Web.
Witting, C. (2018). 20. Defamation: Foundational principles. Law Trove, 3(1), 1-18. Web.