Defamation

On among the remarkable changes done by the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania in terms of fighting against defamation is the enactment of Cyber Crime Act, No.14 of 2015. Among other cyber crimes, the Act has tried to incriminate any person found guilty of an offence of defamation conducted online.
This paper intend to show how does the Act provides for the same

Үндсэн хуулийн 16.16-д үзэл бодлоо чөлөөтэй илэрхийлэх болон хэвлэн нийтлэх эрх чөлөөг анх удаа баталгаажуулсан. Эдгээр эрх чөлөө нь туйлын эрх чөлөө биш ч эдгээрийг хязгаарласан аливаа зохицуулалт нь Үндсэн хуулийн гол нөхцөлийг хангах шаардлагатай. Эрүүгийн хуулиар эсхүл Зөрчлийн тухай хуулиар доромжлол, гүтгэлгийг гэмт хэрэгт тооцож шийтгэх нь үндсэн эрхийг хязгаарлахад тавигдах эдгээр гол нөхцөлийн нэг болох тохирсон (зайлшгүй) байх зарчмыг хангадаггүй. Иймд, алдар хүндийг Эрүүгийн хууль эсхүл Зөрчлийн хуулиар бус харин зөвхөн Иргэний хуулиар хамгаалахад хангалттай.  Иргэний хуулийн холбогдох зохицуулалтыг үзэл бодлоо илэрхийлэх болон хэвлэн нийтлэх эрх чөлөөнд нийцүүлэн шинэчлэхгүй бол болохгүй.

To a lawyer, the meaning of defamation is well known. To an ordinary person or layperson, defamation is something new even though it is something that they face in everyday that there are living as human being; either by knowing that this statement provided by another person about them or someone else is defamatory in nature or by not knowing that such statement is defamatory in nature.
The development of science has turned the manner on how this tortuous liability is conducted. In term of the meaning, the developments of science and technology have turned the meaning of the term defamation to include the digital nature of defamation. In this case even lawyers who have the knowledge about law in general, they may not have the knowledge of the information and communication technology law, thus may find it difficult to understand the true meaning of the term defamation as currently understood worldwide.
This paper provides a number of definitions of defamation as defined by many authors and in the end it provides the true meaning of the term defamation as define by the author.

Доктор Андреас Умланд – персона весьма известная даже в мировом масштабе, а уж тем паче – на постсоветском пространстве, которое стало центральным полем его деятельности. Специалист по экстремистам, правым, ультраправым, фашистам, неофашистам – ну и еще по многочисленным названиям, описывающих одно и то же проклятое Западом явление… Разумеется, всё это он нашел на территории рухнувшего Советского Союза. Умланда особо привлекает Россия: его две диссертации как раз посвящены соответственно деятельности А. Г. Дугина и политическому взлёту ЛДПР (выводы, которые он делает в своих исследованиях, являются именно теми, которых так вожделеет либеральная Европа – грань между либеральным политологом и пропагандистом либерализма зачастую настолько тонка, что её будто бы и нет). Помимо всего прочего, Умланд преподает в Киевском Национальном Университете им. Тараса Шевченко, а также читает лекции в рамках программы академических обменов DAAD. Фактически, мы видим: Умланд не менее, чем манифестация самого Европейского Союза – как жрец в отдельных архаических обществах считался манифестацией самого Бога. Умланд – образец для подражания всего украинского народа, мало того – он осуществляет в Украине самоотверженное служение, в надежде на то, что ему удастся научить, убедить, утешить и приободрить примитивных аборигенов дикого, но всё же европейского, Востока. Показав утопическую модель западного либерализма – направить инертную массу в нужном направлении, к светлому будущему западных ценностей… Наверно, таким представляет себя сам Умланд, а в особенности – его многочисленные почитатели из числа отечественных либералов, которым почтенный доктор политологии также дает советы левой рукой, а правой в то же время клеймит «врагов открытого общества», которые затаились в глубинах российского политикума. Оказывается, что приезжий Умланд разбирается в каждой мелочи нашего общества, и, как писал Энгельс о Марксе, видит дальше и глубже, чем кто‐либо – в особенности, чем все ещё советские люди, homines sovietici…

On May 2nd, 2012, the Committee on Legal Affairs of the European Parliament issued its final Report on with recommendations to the Commission on the amendment of Regulation (EC) No 864/2007 on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations (Rome II Regulation), calling for action in the area of claims for violations of privacy and rights relating to personality, including defamation. This initiative is a significative step to supply the complete absence of Harmonisation in this area within the EU with the paramount problems that this absence produces.

The Media Service Act, No.12 of 2016, is enacted with provisions for promotion of professionalism in the media industry, for establishment of the Journalists Accreditation Board, Independent Media Council and framework for regulation of media services and for other related matters. 
This paper provides a number of definitions of defamation as defined by many authors and it further provides for the position cyber defamation as described by the Act.
For the purpose of this paper the term Act shall mean, “The Media Service Act, No.12 of 2016”.

Allusions and other cultural references are problematic in defamation actions. This paper presents an account of linguistic evidence concerning a contested expression, ‘economical with the truth’, whose origins as a quotation, coupled with more recent general currency, present an important interpretive challenge. Distinction between idiomatic use and more specialised allusion can be crucial in libel litigation, in that qualification is allowed to the ‘ordinary reader’ test only in respect of so-called ‘innuendo’ meanings (or meanings available only to a sub-set readership with relevant, specialised knowledge). Discussion of semantic and pragmatic evidence suggests that linguists can valuably narrow the scope of plausible interpretation. Linguistic analysis can also contribute to understanding of both the ‘ordinary reader’ and ‘innuendo’ tests of meaning. Generalising from the case under discussion, the author comments on established methods for attributing meanings (and responsibility from meaning) in English libel law, and describes emergent tendencies in the related fields of forensic linguistics and critical legal studies.

Resorting to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) –especially to international arbitration- in order to resolve cases in which personality rights are involved is gaining more and more relevance every day. In this regard several issues should be analyzed. The present study focuses mainly on the possibility of resorting to arbitration to resolve this kind of disputes, its viability in the current legal context and the principal implications that would be derived from it in this particular topic. One of these issues stands out: the arbitrability, which is closely related to the public policy.  This subject matter is very significant due to the fact that in most national legal systems personality rights are considered as fundamental rights. Nevertheless, the characterization of those rights as fundamental rights does not impede the holder disposing of certain aspects of his right through an agreement. The arbitration as an alternative resolution method in this special kind of disputes shows more advantages than litigation before national courts when there is a contract between the parties as much as in non contractual obligations arising out of violations of personality rights.

Claiming that someone subscribes to a conspiracy theory can be a potent method of denigration. I observed this process up close: the thesis of one of my PhD students was alleged to endorse a conspiracy theory, therefore discrediting it. Journalists, bloggers, petition signers, Wikipedia editors and scientists endorsed the allegations without assessing whether the thesis actually propounded a conspiracy, without assessing whether evidence was provided for the alleged conspiracy, and without providing any evidence that the allegation discredited the thesis. It seems that few people will question a claim that is endorsed by others, meshes with what they would like to believe, and requires effort to check.

On May 2nd, 2012, the Committee on Legal Affairs of the European Parliament issued its final Report on with recommendations to the Commission on the amendment of Regulation (EC) No 864/2007 on the law applicable to non-contractual obligations (Rome II Regulation), calling for action in the area of claims for violations of privacy and rights relating to personality, including defamation. This initiative is a significative step to supply the complete absence of Harmonisation in this area within the EU with the paramount problems that this absence produces.

Libelos y pasquines se convirtieron durante la Edad Moderna en una herramienta elemental de sociabilidad comunitaria. En el presente artículo el objetivo es profundizar en su análisis como instrumentos de confrontación social junto a su relevancia como medios creadores de estados de opinión. A lo largo de este estudio trataré de contextualizar en qué condiciones, cómo, cuándo y por qué se produjeron este tipo de manifestaciones.

The Syrian version of the Arab Spring is arguably unique in that it has generated right from the start a concurrent sexual rhetoric not so conspicuously noted in the Tunisian, Egyptian, Libyan, or Yemeni revolutions. This idiosyncrasy has to do with a number of reasons, the most seminal of which is the multi-sectarian mosaic of Syrian society. With Syria lacking attractive oil reserves, the international community has been scandalously divided between a huffing-and-puffing anti-Assad West and a veto-toting, pro-Assad Russian-Chinese alliance. This deep division over the Assad regime allowed the Syrian crisis to be so drawn-out that the good old inter-sectarian mudslinging, disguised in sexual terms, began to resurface as a noticeable phenomenon. Because this phenomenon is not peculiar to the current conflict in Syria, this study starts by giving a historical overview of the sexualization of conflicts both among Arabs and internationally. Then the paper moves to examine samples of the mutual sexual defamation by the Syrian regime and the opposition in order to shed light on a neglected byproduct/aspect of the still raging war in and about Syria.

Key words: Arabic media discourse, Addounia TV, inter-sectarian defamation, sex Jihad, Sexual rhetoric, Syrian revolution.

Los Derechos Humanos son los que posee la persona por el solo hecho de serlo, que todas las autoridades, en el ámbito de sus competencias, tienen la obligación de promover, respetar, proteger y garantizar, de conformidad con los principios de universalidad, interdependencia, indivisibilidad y progresividad. El Artículo 17 segundo párrafo de la Constitución Política de México contempla el derecho fundamental de acceso a la justicia como el derecho público subjetivo que toda persona tiene para que se le imparta justicia por tribunales expeditos, dentro de los plazos y términos previstos por las leyes, bajo principios de prontitud, justicia completa e imparcial. En el cuarto párrafo del mismo precepto constitucional a partir de junio de 2008, se han reconocido como un derecho humano para acceder a la justicia los mecanismos alternativos de solución de controversias, que consisten en la negociación, mediación, conciliación y el arbitraje.

Los Derechos Humanos son los que posee la persona por el solo hecho de serlo, que todas las autoridades, en el ámbito de sus competencias, tienen la obligación de promover, respetar, proteger y garantizar, de conformidad con los principios de universalidad, interdependencia, indivisibilidad y progresividad. El Artículo 17 segundo párrafo de la Constitución Política de México contempla el derecho fundamental de acceso a la justicia como el derecho público subjetivo que toda persona tiene para que se le imparta justicia por tribunales expeditos, dentro de los plazos y términos previstos por las leyes, bajo principios de prontitud, justicia completa e imparcial. En el cuarto párrafo del mismo precepto constitucional a partir de junio de 2008, se han reconocido como un derecho humano para acceder a la justicia los mecanismos alternativos de solución de controversias, que consisten en la negociación, mediación, conciliación y el arbitraje.

This Article documents some of the sharp new conflicts over religion that have broken out in various countries of the world. Apostasy, Blasphemy, Conversion, Defamation, and Evangelization-these are the new alphabet of religious rights violation in a number of regions around the world. Occurring at the intersection of religion and international human rights, they are also challenges to the universality of human rights and the democratic institutions that generate and affirm them. And they stand in open violation of major international, regional, and domestic instruments designed to protect liberty of conscience, freedom of exercise for individuals and groups, religious equality and non-discrimination, among other norms.

The final argument in favour of the notion that pornography causes harm to women that I will consider in this thesis is the argument that pornography demeans women's reputations. 1 Proponents of this view argue that pornography defames women by depicting them as mere sex objects who enjoy being sexually degraded, and that such depictions injure the reputations of all women. The harm involved is that pornography causes people to lower their esteem for women. This chapter will consider whether it is tenable to claim that pornography defames women: whether the material tells lies about women and whether it is possible for a fictional depiction of some women to be a statement about all women. I will argue that the material is not defamatory itself, since the depiction of women enjoying sexual subordination is neither a false representation of some women nor an explicit statement that all women enjoy sexual subordination. Nevertheless, that pornography lacks the components that would make it defamatory does not mean that it doesn't have harmful consequences for the reputations of women generally, since the images may reinforce sexist beliefs. So the question of censoring material because of any injury it might cause to perceptions of all women will also be discussed here.

With the growing number of readership as well as newspapers and their district editions coupled with improved transportation facility the newspaper industry has seen a sea change in its circulation, commercial advertisement, and other aspects. At this outset, it has become imperative for looking at the content that is being published in the vernacular languages' particularly district tabloids. I made a brief and quick survey in erstwhile four northern Telangana Districts, as to the qualification and standards of the reporters/contributors/stringers. Generally, only one person who is working as district head is having university degrees or certification from journalism school. Occasionally this in charge is assisted by another qualified person. In most of the cases, the remaining staff is drop-outs from colleges or pursuing education privately and working for a newspaper. The payment of wages and other emoluments are dependent not only on the length of the news but also strength (?) i.e., the sensation it has created. The news from such sensational stringers etc. have had precedence over others. This aspect is also seen from the advertisement revenue being mopped up by the particular contributor.

This thesis involves the secondary data of 1806 innovative manufacturing firms derived from the database of 2nd Taiwanese Innovation Survey. Three topics are researched. The first topic investigates the innovation value chain (IVC) in Taiwanese manufacturing firms. Previous IVC studies are all done in developed countries such as UK, Ireland, Northern Ireland and Switzerland, and it leaves the gap of those non-developed countries. The result shows the overall knowledge sourcing pattern of Taiwanese manufacturing firms presenting a complementary relationship which is consistent to the previous IVC studies. The main innovation input is still derived from internal RD (2) how you define ‘sector’ matters i.e. the nature of the high-tech and low-tech differences varies depending on whether the technology definition is carried out at the industry or firm level; and (3) the high uncertainty of innovation cause the difficulty to predict firm performance especially for those firms with high in...

A perplexing, contemporary issue in libel law is whether online service providers (OSPs) should be held responsible for defamatory content published by Internet users using their services. The English courts have previously wrestled with this issue in the context of weblogs (Tamiz v. Google [2013] EWCA Civ 68; [2013] 1 W.L.R. 2151; Davison v. Habeeb [2011] EWHC 3031 (QB); [2012] 3 C.M.L.R. 6), newsgroups (Godfrey v. Demon Internet Ltd [2001] Q.B. 201), search engines (Metropolitan International Schools Ltd v. Designtechnica Corp [2009] EWHC 1765; [2011] 1 W.L.R. 1743), and mere conduits (Bunt v. Tilley [2006] EWHC 407 (QB); [2007] 1 W.L.R. 1243). In Oriental Press Group Ltd v. Fevaworks Solutions Ltd [2013] HKEC 1025, the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal (HKCFA), perhaps for the first time in the common law world, addressed this question in the setting of online discussion forums. This paper critically analyses the reasoning of the HKCFA in Oriental Press Group.

The justifications for strict products liability and other cases of strict liability in torts are different and distinct. The United States judiciary has limited strict liability in tort law to seven distinct scenarios: (1) animals that are trespassing, are domesticated but vicious, or are wild by nature; (2) fact situations involving ultra-hazardous activities; (3) nuisance; (4) misrepresentation; (5) vicarious liability; (6) defamation; or (7) a workman’s compensation statute. 

Strict liability is imposed for harm caused by animals capable of inflicting extensive harm.  It also justifies liability for ultra-hazardous activities on the basis that an individual undertakes an activity that is inappropriate to the locale and poses great risk of harm to others.  Private and public nuisance justify strict liability if the activity in question also qualifies as an ultra-hazardous activity.  Misrepresentation places any resulting loss upon the defendant, even if innocent, rather than upon the innocent plaintiff.  In vicarious liability scenarios, a variety of justifications for strict liability exist: the elements of control, the theory of the business enterprise having the deepest pocket, and the allocation of risk. These justifications have each been reasons for holding employers strictly liable for the torts of their employees.  The law of defamation holds the publisher strictly liable on the basis that it is better to restrict an individual’s freedom of expression than to see an innocent plaintiff suffer from a loss of standing in the community. 

Liability is imposed and the corresponding right to recovery is given, not because of the plaintiff’s injury, but because the plaintiff’s injury was the result of the defendant’s fault.  When speaking in terms of strict liability, each rationale of recovery is different and distinct from the rest.

The Coalition Government has prioritised 'open data' as a 'powerful tool' to 'empower citizens', with a 'transparency commitment' to publish more crime and anonymised sentencing data and the Ministry of Justice has set out an open data strategy covering both civil and criminal courts. However, legal researchers frequently encounter inaccessible or 'closed' data, when they attempt to access basic information concerning civil cases. Better-organised and more open information would help inform public debates relating to procedural and substantive civil law - the discussion around libel reform and privacy-related interim injunctions, for example. This paper will argue that a lack of public data about defamation and privacy litigation, indicated by the Impact Assessment for the Defamation Bill 2012 and the report by the Master of the Rolls' Committee on Super-Injunctions in 2011, hampers the policy-making process, public debate and academic research around these issues of public interest.

The current UN policy regarding free speech presents a philosophical dilemma between accepting the free speech provisions in the UN Declaration of Human Rights and recent exceptions carved out for hatred, hostility, and religious defamation. The Declaration should be understood to imply viewpoint neutrality and the exceptions for religious defamation are not viewpoint neutral. If the UN were to adopt J.S. Mill’s crucial distinctions between expression and performative speech, content and context, and mental states and the acts motivated by them, it would be clear that hatred, hostility, and defamation cannot be exceptions to viewpoint neutral free speech. If the heart of free speech is freedom especially for the thought we hate, then the UN should abandon its exceptions or abandon appeals to free speech. However, I will offer a strong reason that it should not do the latter.