Defamatory posts - some guidelines
A post will be defamatory if it contains a statement which is untrue and which might cause damage or prejudice to another person's reputation. Because it is published in writing it is called a "Libel".
For a statement to be considered as being true, it must have been accepted as true in a competent court or tribunal or admitted by the person who is the subject of the statement.
Defamatory statements about cyclists are particularly serious as Future's magazines and websites are fairly prominent in the cycling world and are therefore likely to carry influence.
If you post material about doping or other cheating, please do not make allegations in your post. Please do not quote allegations from other sources. Every repetition of a libel is itself a fresh libel.
Posting a link to another source which might contain a defamatory statement is just about acceptable as long as you don't indicate an approval of the statement in your post.
A defamatory statement is only actionable if it is made about an identifiable individual or class of individual. This means that a statement made about a whole team could be actionable by each of the individual members of the team.
Defamatory statements about dead people are not actionable so where a cyclist has drugged himself to death then go ahead and say what you want.
Please understand that dealing with even the threat of a legal action is costly and disruptive. This means that you may feel that moderator action is sometimes over-cautious.
For a statement to be considered as being true, it must have been accepted as true in a competent court or tribunal or admitted by the person who is the subject of the statement.
Defamatory statements about cyclists are particularly serious as Future's magazines and websites are fairly prominent in the cycling world and are therefore likely to carry influence.
If you post material about doping or other cheating, please do not make allegations in your post. Please do not quote allegations from other sources. Every repetition of a libel is itself a fresh libel.
Posting a link to another source which might contain a defamatory statement is just about acceptable as long as you don't indicate an approval of the statement in your post.
A defamatory statement is only actionable if it is made about an identifiable individual or class of individual. This means that a statement made about a whole team could be actionable by each of the individual members of the team.
Defamatory statements about dead people are not actionable so where a cyclist has drugged himself to death then go ahead and say what you want.
Please understand that dealing with even the threat of a legal action is costly and disruptive. This means that you may feel that moderator action is sometimes over-cautious.
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