How to Lower the Risks of Defamation in Your Online Forum
Use your terms and conditions., Have those moderating the forum help police it., Keep your lawyer on hand.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Use your terms and conditions.
Have a lawyer draw up some tight conditions about usage of the forum by both those who post in the forum and those who read it.
Things to consider include:
Making it absolutely clear that the website and your company are not responsible for the statements made by third parties using your forum.
Explain that you do not play a role of editing forum content and therefore have no control over what is written there.
Make it clear that defamatory or other legally and morally reprehensible comments won't be tolerated and will be investigated and/or removed.
As part of the terms and conditions, place the onus back on those posting on the forums.
Make them responsible for what they post by stating clearly that whatever they post must be true or a genuinely held honest opinion, or similar language depending on the elements that go to making a defamation action in your relevant jurisdiction.
Make it clear which jurisdiction of laws your site is operated under, to try to prevent "legal forum shopping".
Inform forum users that you retain the right to remove or ban them, either temporarily or permanently, for a breach of these conditions.
Consider requiring users to indemnify you for their comments.
That way, if you are sued, you may be able to pursue them for a recovery of costs.
Talk to your lawyer about the extent of these terms and conditions and what the precise content should be to cover you properly.
The ability or worth of any one of these conditions is dependent on your jurisdiction and the manner in which your forum works. -
Step 2: Have those moderating the forum help police it.
If you have several forum moderators, give them a list of things you consider require instant removal.
As part of this, make it easy for anyone using the forum to be able to contact you, your company, or your staff to make a claim that something defamatory has been printed in it.
Let them know that it will be removed if it appears defamatory after an investigation. , Not all cases of claims of defamatory material or offensive statements will be obvious to you and your team.
In addition, you may have defences to claims that something is defamatory, so don't jump over the hot coals straight off.
You may need to flick some of them to your legal team to check out and reach a decision on. -
Step 3: Keep your lawyer on hand.
Detailed Guide
Have a lawyer draw up some tight conditions about usage of the forum by both those who post in the forum and those who read it.
Things to consider include:
Making it absolutely clear that the website and your company are not responsible for the statements made by third parties using your forum.
Explain that you do not play a role of editing forum content and therefore have no control over what is written there.
Make it clear that defamatory or other legally and morally reprehensible comments won't be tolerated and will be investigated and/or removed.
As part of the terms and conditions, place the onus back on those posting on the forums.
Make them responsible for what they post by stating clearly that whatever they post must be true or a genuinely held honest opinion, or similar language depending on the elements that go to making a defamation action in your relevant jurisdiction.
Make it clear which jurisdiction of laws your site is operated under, to try to prevent "legal forum shopping".
Inform forum users that you retain the right to remove or ban them, either temporarily or permanently, for a breach of these conditions.
Consider requiring users to indemnify you for their comments.
That way, if you are sued, you may be able to pursue them for a recovery of costs.
Talk to your lawyer about the extent of these terms and conditions and what the precise content should be to cover you properly.
The ability or worth of any one of these conditions is dependent on your jurisdiction and the manner in which your forum works.
If you have several forum moderators, give them a list of things you consider require instant removal.
As part of this, make it easy for anyone using the forum to be able to contact you, your company, or your staff to make a claim that something defamatory has been printed in it.
Let them know that it will be removed if it appears defamatory after an investigation. , Not all cases of claims of defamatory material or offensive statements will be obvious to you and your team.
In addition, you may have defences to claims that something is defamatory, so don't jump over the hot coals straight off.
You may need to flick some of them to your legal team to check out and reach a decision on.
About the Author
Lauren Coleman
Dedicated to helping readers learn new skills in home improvement and beyond.
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