Defamation on a forum: tolerance of overstated comments from an individual
Civil Law
Source: order of the referee of the High Court of Paris dated June 24th 2015, available on the website « legalis.net »
An individual had acquired a second-hand vehicle from a mandatory society. After complete payment of the price, the vehicle was never delivered. Therefore the web user, who thought he had been swindled, published five aggressive comments on a discussion forum, which accused the seller to publish false positive comments towards her, to produce false documents and to be dishonest.
The Court considers for certain comments, that the defamatory nature is established, as it concerns a specific fact, which can be the subject to debate about the proof of its truth and which offends the honor and the consideration of the legal person.
The Court reminds that «The defamatory charges are, by law, made with the intention to harm, but they can be justified when the author establishes his good faith, by proving that he had a legitimate purpose, out of personal animosity, and that he complied with a certain number of requirements, in particular the seriousness of the investigation, as well as the cautiousness in the wording, providing that the good faith cannot be inferred from facts that happened after the diffusion of the comments».
The Court also adds that «These elements can be appreciated differently according to the type of writing concerned and the status of the person who expressed himself and, especially, with a lesser level of rigor when the author of the defamatory comments is not a journalist, whose profession is to inform, but a person actually involved in the facts on which she comments».
In this case, the denunciation of abusive commercial practices is a legitimate purpose and the personal animosity of the web user is not established, being reminded that a personal animosity has a motive hidden to the reader, meanwhile in the present case the respondent is interfering following a commercial dispute.
The Court states that, if the charge to have published a false positive comment as a client was not made with a real cautiousness in the wording, the web user is not a journalist but an individual involved, «which allows to tolerate a certain amount of overstatement in the wording».
The web user is therefore condemned to repair the moral prejudice of the society, by paying an amount of one euro, for public defamation towards an individual.
The decision reminds that the defamation is not judged with the same rigor, whether the person who expresses herself is an amateur or a journalist.
History
-
Verification and eligibility of debts: Right for the creditor to appeal when the bankruptcy judge has not ratified the proposal of the judicial representative
Published on : 07/07/2015 07 July Jul 07 201520152015 / JuilletCollective Proceedings Source: Supreme Court, Commercial Chamber, June 16th 2015, n° 14-11.190 In accordance with the provisions of article L.624-3 par...
-
Defamation on a forum: tolerance of overstated comments from an individual
Published on : 07/07/2015 07 July Jul 07 201520152015 / JuilletCivil Law Source: order of the referee of the High Court of Paris dated June 24th 2015, available on the website « legalis.net » An individual had acqu...
-
The victim's behaviour has no effect on the characterization of moral harassment
Published on : 07/07/2015 07 July Jul 07 201520152015 / JuilletLabour Law / Criminal Law Source: Supreme Court – Criminal Chamber – May 27th 2015, n° 14-81489 In a decision dated May 27th 2015, the criminal chamber...
-
The offence of concealed work is not automatic in the presence of an illicit flat-rate pay agreement.
Published on : 07/07/2015 07 July Jul 07 201520152015 / JuilletLabour Law Source: Supreme Court – Social Chamber – June 16th 2015, n° 14-16953 First of all, the regulation regarding concealed work has to be reminde...
-
Successive temporary contracts: risk of sanction in case of non-respect of the Labour Law
Published on : 07/07/2015 07 July Jul 07 201520152015 / JuilletLabour Law Source: Supreme Court – Social Chamber, June 3rd 2015, n° 14-17.705 With the summer, come "summer jobs"... Contracts of work concluded for t...
-
Natural disaster and visiting and accommodation right
Published on : 08/06/2015 08 June Jun 06 201520152015 / JuinFamily Law Source: Court of Appeal of Toulouse, May 11th 2015, n° 14/03146, n° 15/458 It is an atypical decision rendered, following the nuclear disast...