Libel is a personal injury claim involving false statements someone (usually a reporter or writer) makes as a statement of fact via printed material, word of mouth, broadcasts or on the Internet. The most critical factor in knowing how to disprove a libel claim is to understand what constitutes a libel claim and to plan ahead, documenting your evidence, before you ever make or publish a statement that could be deemed libelous.
1Understand what makes a statement libelous before you ever write or speak publicly about a certain topic: the statement must be false, damaging and defamatory to the plaintiff, and published with a degree of fault or malice (intent to harm).Ad
2Familiarize yourself with the types of statements that courts have found to be libelous in previous cases. These include statements accusing someone of committing a crime, having a contagious and socially-unacceptable disease such as leprosy or a sexually-transmitted disease, committing adultery or other sexual misconduct, having a drug or alcohol addiction, being mentally ill, or being dishonest or bigoted. You should be prepared with solid documentation about any of these types of statements before you ever make them in a public forum about anyone.
3Be aware that someone can claim libel even if you did not directly mention their name, but rather defamed them indirectly. For example, claiming someone is an illegitimate child could be considered defamatory to the person's mother.
4Know that in most cases, especially when the piece of information is of public concern relating to a public figure or even a private individual involved in a public matter, the burden of proof lies with the plaintiff to prove the statement is false. Regardless, if you are charged with libel, remember that being able to prove truth is your best defense. Juries usually decide libel cases, and most jurors are going to expect you as the defendant to prove an allegedly libelous statement is true.
5Have documentation or recordings from more than one source about information you published or reported in a broadcast or on the Internet, or any combination of these places. The statement needs first-hand, personal knowledge from your sources and not just something the plaintiff could argue is hearsay (hearing it "through the grapevine," so to speak).
- If you have a source who wants to be anonymous, it's in your best interest to have a back-up source. Unless the anonymous source is a person of high-level importance such as someone in a high political or corporate position and it would be damaging to them to have a quote attributed to them, it's best to go with named sources who could be called to testify on your behalf if a case goes to court.
6Claim "qualified privilege" if you reported defamatory comments that originated from judicial, legislative or other official, public proceedings. These statements are privileged and protected by law without any fear of slander or libel action as long as you fairly and accurately reported them as fact.
7Keep opinion out of factual statements that you write or speak about. Presenting facts during a court case will help you prove your point; trying to prove fact in your opinions is more difficult to defend when disproving libel.Ad
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- Slander is an easier charge to disprove, as it pertains to the spoken word, with no permanent record it was said.
- Consider making a retraction of the statement for which you're being charged with libel. While this doesn't automatically disprove libel, it can potentially help you in lessening any damages the court awards should you lose your case. The retraction must be a full one, given priority placement (not buried on a back page) and must not attempt to justify the libelous statement.
- Internet service providers (ISPs) are generally protected from libel suits; it is the person who actually made the statements who can be held responsible, not the ISP they use.
Sources and Citations
- Book: Law of Mass Communications-Freedom & Control of Print and Broadcast Media (Fourth Edition) by Harold D. Nelson and Dwight L. Teeter, Jr., pages 148-149, 162, 167, and 176; Copyright 1981.