Legal Briefs — Social network defamation and litigation

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 21/04/2012 (5226 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Social networking sites are great tools that allow people to stay in touch with one another, and to let people know what you are up to and what you are thinking.

It is also a tool that allows people to express how they feel about something, or someone, in a more public manner.

However, that expression on a social networking site, or on the Internet, could come back to haunt that person, if there in ongoing litigation.

In perhaps a first of its kind decision, the B.C. Court of Appeal has affirmed that a father who used the Internet and Facebook to publicly denigrate his child’s mother must pay her damages for defamation and invasion of her privacy.

The parties were involved in a custody and access dispute over their child.

The court concluded that the father had taken his battle with his estranged spouse far outside the ordinary confines of the family court litigation.

The father created a website where he would publish his negative comments about his estranged spouse, as well as publish suggestions about her parenting abilities, or lack thereof.

Despite the father agreeing in a court order to stop making any further disparaging comments about his estranged spouse, the father published his comments on Facebook.

The court concluded that the father’s conduct and motive was to win by any means, including the posting of the negative and derogatory comments about his estranged spouse.

This case is perhaps the extreme, in that the father actually set up a website to post his negative comments.

If someone is prepared to go to those lengths, then it is not surprising that the court took such a negative view of that conduct.

However, it is important to remember that comments posted to a website, or social networking site, are public statements and may be used in the ongoing litigation.

While people appreciate that comments they make to the other spouse in an email, or letter, can and often do show up in court, many don’t realize the same can be true for statements they post on social networking sites.

It does not take long for that comment to work its way through the maze of friends, to ultimately be shown to the ex-spouse.

It is hard to say in court that you do not speak negatively about the other parent when there are postings on a social networking site that suggest otherwise.

While the B.C. Court of Appeal was dealing with an extreme case to warrant an award of damages, it does not take such an extreme case to be able to use those postings in an ongoing custody and access dispute. It is becoming more and more common to some degree.

It is becoming more and more common for lawyers to ask about people’s social networking sites, not just emails, to obtain information that can be used in the ongoing custody and access dispute.

Perhaps what we learned in kindergarten still holds true today — if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.

This is especially true when what you say is committed to the Internet, where it will remain forever, and can be used against you.

» Scott Abel is a lawyer with Paterson, Patterson, Wyman and Abel, with offices in Brandon, Neepawa and Virden.