Defamation not star attraction

Privacy injunctions have taken over from defamation actions as the legal route of choice for celebrities seeking to prevent potentially damaging stories from being published.

Only nine celebrities—including Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lily Allen and Boy George—sued for defamation in 2010/11, a fall of 59% from 22 in 2009/10, according to research by Sweet & Maxwell.

By contrast, the past year has seen the courts grappling with a slew of controversial “superinjunctions”.

Korieh Duodu, media law solicitor at Addleshaw Goddard, said: “The increased use of anonymity orders in privacy claims has enabled well known individuals to prevent anything being published at all.

“This will in some cases prevent the need for the individual to sue for libel after the event.”

However, businesses are increasingly suing for defamation to protect their reputation against complaints from individuals and customers.

There were five defamation cases brought by businesses in 2009/10, but this number trebled to 16 this year.

Defamation claims arising from social media communications such as Facebook and Twitter are also on the rise, and court cases where the defamatory comments were made online more than doubled last year to 16 from seven.

Duodu said journalists often source news from social media platforms, increasing the risk that content that is defamatory or in breach of privacy rights can spiral into a national news story.

“People who find themselves damaged on social media sites can often find it time-consuming and difficult to have the offending material removed, because many platform providers do not accept responsibility for their users content,” he said.

“Such is the speed at which information travels through social networks that one unchecked comment can spread into the mainstream media within minutes, which can cause irreparable damage to the subject who has been wronged.”

He called for “greater accountability of the providers of user generated content”, adding: “This ought to have been a focus of the proposed Defamation Bill currently being debated.”