[x-pubpol] UK Committee Suggests Libel Rules For Websites

[Joly MacFie]

http://www.eweekeurope.co.uk/news/parliamentary-committee-says-websites-need-libel-protection-43069

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A parliamentary committee suggests websites should be required to remove
anonymous libels
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A joint Parliamentary
committee<http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt201012/jtselect/jtdefam/203/20302.htm>
has
said that websites should have protection from defamation cases if they
respond swiftly to allegedly libellous comments from anonymous posters.

It says that websites which identify authors and publish complaints
alongside comments should get legal protection.



Currently, websites are liable for defamatory statements made by their users
and if they fail to remove a comment which prompts a complaint, they risk
becoming the “primary publisher” of the statement.

The committee proposes a “notice and takedown procedure” whereby complaints
are displayed alongside the offending comments and the complainant can then
apply for a takedown order at a court, as long as the author is identified.
If a website does not comply, then they should be treated as the publisher
of the comment.

However anonymous comments should still be immediately removed from the
website unless the author volunteers their identity. Conversely, websites
can apply for a “leave-up” order if they believe an anonymous comment is on
a matter of “significant” public interest.



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