We have all been there – we received bad service, the owner of the company was rude, and so forth. ‘Naming and shaming’ have become a powerful tool on social media platforms that must be used with extreme caution.
Whilst you have a right to express yourself – this right is by no means limitless. Your post on social media can almost certainly lead to a defamation action brought out of the High Court, in which you will be amongst other things –
- ordered to remove the post and publish an apology.
- pay damage that the company/person has suffered.
- pay legal costs.
When is your post defamatory?
If, in the opinion of the reasonable person with normal intelligence, the reputation of the business/person has been injured and cannot be justified in accordance with all 3 points set out below.
When will your post be justified?
- If it is true – you must prove the facts; you cannot simply rely on something that someone else told you.
- It is in the interest of the general public – you have to demonstrate that the public at large will suffer damage but for your post.
- It constitutes fair comment – your post cannot be your opinion, a half-truth, or an unwarranted complaint simply with the intention to harm a business/person.
If you share, like, re-tweet or comment on a defamatory post, you will be held as responsible as the originator of the post.
The bottom line – think twice before naming and shaming a business or person on social media.
