Sticks and Stones Do Break Bones...And Internet Postings Can Land You in Court.

There is a new example in the news that I want everyone to read about and take heed.  Please sit down with your young adults and children to discuss the do's and don'ts of life and how they must transfer into how they treat people on the internet.

For background purposes, you may want to read a book that talks about this, from the victim's point of view.  I am referring to the Google Bomb Book by Sue Scheff.  You can read about her and the awful ordeal that she survived and eventually learned how to thrive her way through.  Sue was the subject of internet defamation.  I met Sue through Twitter and I consider her an esteemed colleague and friend.  You can read a summary at the Google Bomb Book site.

The latest headline in the news that your teens and young adults can relate to is the Courtney Love defamation trial.  A social media expert is expected to testify AGAINST Ms. Love.  A defamation suit alleges that Ms. Love tweeted awful things about a designer known as "Boudoir Queen".  The defamation suit alleges that the Twitter posts damaged the fashion designer's reputation.

The lawsuit heads to trial January 18th.  I wonder if Ms. Love will tweet about it from the court room?

The court will hear the defamation suit and then will have to decide if Ms. Love's Twitter posts are an expression of her thoughts and opinions vs. presented as facts.

Social Media Expert, Jessie Stricchiola, has been asked to be a witness at the trial and to testify what the twitterati and followers of Ms. Love may have interpreted from the posts.


Sources:

"Twitter Expert Will Testify Against Courtney Love In Defamation Trial", Debra Cassens Weiss, Internet Law, January 5, 2011.

"Are you ready to be google bombed? Why you must read Sue Scheff’s story", Dr. Michele Borba, September 7, 2009.

Google Bomb - The Untold Story of the $11.3M Verdict That Changed the Way We Use the Internet, by John W. Dozier Jr. and Sue Scheff.