At this time there are over Thirty million weblogs on the web and 1000′s more getting created per week. Presuming ownership of one blog per individual, that’s at the least 30 million individuals slinging around their personal opinions on all that exists under the sun. It is a good thing. The free exchange of thoughts and ideas is what prevents the world from becoming a stagnant pool of simple beliefs.
However, to steal a line belonging to the movie Spiderman, ‘With great power comes great responsibility’. Blogging is now a means for the words of the people being heard. We should be cautious, though, never to abuse our power through thoughtless acts that hurt the credibility of bloggers and blogging. One place that remains our Achilles heel is when good posts go bad.

In the united states, libel and slander are the two categories of defamation. In several states, courts have begun treating them the same as the only difference between both is that libel is a false written statement about a person, place or thing that harms his/her/its reputation while slander is the verbal act with the same offense. Whether blogged on the Internet or whispered offline with your mother, the common denominator is that what is said is false.

Since I’m psychic, I already know what you really are thinking. ‘The First Amendment of the US Constitution protects me. Provided that it is the truth, I could say whatever I want.’ Well, sort of. As crazy as it sounds, truth is not the silver bullet defense for every case of libel or slander. A court may demand that besides being true the info relayed is in the public interest to learn.

So reporting that the CEO of any major corporation was ensnared pilfering money from the employee’s retirement fund could possibly get dismissed from civil court while telling the world your neighbor has smelly feet might get you into more trouble than you desire. Even though it were true, exactly why would it be in the public interest to learn your neighbor’s feet could empty out Yankee Stadium?

Today, the First Amendment will respect your right to an opinion. If you feel how the Mr. Squiggly Toddler Toy is a piece of crap, you are certainly free to tell anyone within earshot when you make it clear that it is your opinion on the subject. Similarly, if a person puts forth a negative sentiment concerning their experience with you and it is clear to any reasonable person that it’s their opinion, your legal recourse against them is seriously limited.

Parody and satire can also be protected. If they were not, Saturday Night Live and South Park would have never managed to get past the very first episode. And criticism of a public performance such as a symphony, a theatrical production as well as a book is shielded under the Fair Criticism and Comment clause.

Today the web contributes some interesting layers of complication to the whole blogging shebang. Rather than being found in a local area, libel has the possibilities to cross international borders and not every country handles these cases the same. The major problems courts all over the world are having to deal with is the one of jurisdiction. If I live in America and I libel someone that lives in Britain where exactly does the case take place and who’s laws do we go by? Many cases have set a scary precedent that leans towards to be able to sue anywhere around the world for libel published on the web.

Next there is the issue of third party liability. Say you might be a responsible blogger who is careful about her posts to avoid a troublesome libel accusation. One of your readers writes a libelous statement on your blog. Can you be held the cause of that person’s actions? Well, so far the law has only made provisions for Internet service providers stating that they can not be held responsible for how their clients use their services (as it relates to defamation). Likewise, blog providers for example Google and Six Apart may likely be safe from any lawsuits arising from a person’s use of the service.

No matter whether or not you would be held responsible may come down to if you moderate your comments. If you allow comments to be posted instantly, you may well be covered under Section 230 of the US Code (for US Citizens). It may be another story, on the other hand, should you approve comments before posting them. It could be argued your posting of the comments equates your agreement to them. To date, no one has shown up in court to argue this, hence the fact that we are kind of forced to make it up as we go along.

Defamation is really a tricky issue and something that needs to be tread carefully if your are in order to avoid ending up in court. Here are a few tips to help keep you out of trouble. Take note: I am not a lawyer. Even though I did get to play one on “Touched by an Angel” on television. If you and your blog handle some highly controversial issues or you’re simply not sure just how much trouble you would get into when you published that post about your best friend’s boyfriend, I recommend getting in contact with a lawyer to acquire the best advice.

1. Change the names. Undoubtedly the simplest thing you can do is to change in order to avoid using the name of the individual you are talking about and to strip away as much identifying information as you can. If a reasonable individual can visit your hometown and quickly identify the “mealy-mouth cow” you blogging about on-line, you need to do some modifying.

2. Make full use of a disclaimer. I do have an great one on my site. Even something as fundamental as “By using this blog, you agree that the opinions expressed are the property and responsibility of their respective owners” may offer some defense in the event of a court action. (Check with a real lawyer please).

3. Think about writing the rant like a parody or satire. Intense exaggerations that no reasonable person would believe usually are not considered defamation because, quite frankly, they are unbelievable. Be cautious though, this type of writing takes a specific je sais quoi, and could easily backfire on you. Have a reasonable person proofread your entry to be sure it passes the believability test.

4. Watch your language. Make sure to use wording that makes it clear that this is your thoughts and opinions about the subject matter. Assertions like, “That Mr. Squiggly Toddler Toy is a piece of crap” makes it seem as though you’re stating a truth when in all actuality you’re making a personal judgment concerning the toy. Something like “I believe that Mr. Squiggly Toddler Toy is a piece of crap” or “That Mr. Squiggly Toddler Toy fell apart after the first use” are usually safe bets. At the least so far as the law will be involved.

5. And last yet definitely not the very least, do not tell bogus tales. Now this may could be seen as common sense but wait , how common is good sense these days? Actually. If you think the need to resort to lying about someone, you might want to seek professional help in analyzing the reason why you want to do that. ‘Cause odds are, it’s not to protect the public. Use blogging wisely!

Running a blog is a powerful way to meet folks and stay current in the world and doing so responsibly will only make the experience much better. Remain safe, remain sane and most of all, have fun.

Russ McGinn