The Legality of Linking: Online Defamation

If it is your desire to protect your reputation, then you will not like this decision by the Supreme Court of Canada. While acknowledging the illegality of publishing online defamation, they have ruled that individuals who link to that defamation are not liable for the statements.

Free speech advocates and media policy researchers hailed the ruling.

“The court recognises that simply posting a link to material that may be libellous is a far cry from publishing or repeating the libel, let alone endorsing what has been said in the linked post,” Dean Jobb, a journalism professor at University of King’s College told Canada’s Globe and Mail newspaper.

What this means in practice is that someone who links to defamatory content will not be published. Good news for free speech, bad news for those who are being defamed and don’t want the online lies to spread.