Defamation is the act of communicating a false statement about a person or entity to a third party that harms their reputation.
It generally takes two forms:
Libel: Written or permanent defamation (e.g., social media posts, emails, articles, published reviews).
Slander: Spoken or transient defamation (e.g., a speech, a conversation).
Key Elements to Prove
To legally qualify as defamation, a statement typically must be:
False: Truth is an absolute defense against defamation claims.
Published: Seen or heard by at least one person other than the victim.
Harmful: Injures the victim's reputation, character, or professional standing.
Avoiding risk of defamation
Point 1 above is the best way to avoid defamation risk. If what you’re saying is true, then it is not defamatory. It is however important to remember that, per our Terms of Service, YOU, the user, are responsible for the content you post. This means that any legal dispute arising from your content will be between you and the person or school with the complaint. You may be required to prove the truth of your claims, and Indeparent may be compelled to reveal your identity by a valid court order to this end.
It is tempting to think that couching all claims as a matter of opinion is a defence against defamation, but this is not an absolute defence.
A statement such as “I think the head is embezzling money” may be technically factual insofar as you genuinely believe it to be true, but a lawyer could argue that this is a reckless statement of a falsehood intended to cause harm, and you may need to defend yourself against that claim.
Our Acceptable Use Policy, Terms of Service and Review Guidelines outline certain content that is not permitted and other guidelines to help you post constructively and safely.