Don’t Call People Mean Names On Your Blog

A model has won a victory in her lawsuit against an anonymous blogger who called her a mean word (if you must know, he called her a “skank”).  She took offense to being called that name, as I guess most people would, and sued to have the identity of the author revealed.

A judge has agreed with her, ordering the identity to be made public–actually, the judge ordered Google to reveal the name (they own the blogging service, Blogger, on which the author published his rant). The defendant argued that blogs serve as a modern-day forum for conveying personal opinions, including invective and ranting, and should not be treated as factual assertions–an opinion I would largely agree with–but the judge disagreed.  The ruling means that he’s essentially guilty of slander.  It’s not clear from the article if the blogger’s anonymity is part of the problem… I wonder if there would be as big a deal made of it if they had simply published their thoughts under their real byline.

I guess I could see the ruling making sense in more overt and obvious cases of slander, where accusations without basis are leveled against a public figure.  But calling someone a name?  I have a hard time buying that as slander.  And if you disagree with me, you’re a big nerd!  (I hope that’s not slander.  Is it slander if you say it about an unknown person and a future event that is only a possibility?  Hope not.)

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