ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on defamation in the context of allegedly defamatory postings made via social media sites. The law has been updated for the age of the internet and seeks to put the focus back on the poster of the allegedly defamatory content. The Joint Committee published extensive evidence from a range of individuals and bodies including, but not limited to, academics, lawyers, non-governmental organizations, Internet Service Provider (ISP), trade unions, judges, the Lord Chancellor, and the Ministry of Justice. In recent years, there has been an increasing trend for individuals and companies who contend that they have been defamed to pursue the ISP who published the content via their website URLs. The terms of reference libel, defamation, and slander are often used interchangeably. Libel is an offence that concerns the publication of material in writing or some other permanent form. If it is spoken or in some sort of other transient form, it is a slander.
