The Straits Times, Digital Life By Meryl Koh and Shane Low BY ALL means, speak your mind online, but make sure your words do not defame anyone. If your blog contains words that might render someone contemptible or cause injury to another person's reputation, then you, as the "publisher" of those words, are liable for libel. Technically, a "publication" of defamatory material - whether it be on a blog, through e-mail, forums, Facebook or Windows Messenger - occurs when material is read. Arguably, if there are zero hits on your blog when defamatory comments are posted, then there is no relevant "publication". Conversely, the victim of these defamatory comments would be able to justify a much larger claim for damages if your blog gets more than a couple of hits a day. If another blogger reposts your defamatory blog post on his blog, the defamed person could have a potential claim against you (the original blogger) for that other blogger's republished post. Needless to say, in such a case, that blogger would also be liable - for defamation of the defamed person and, technically, he could be liable for infringement of the copyright subsisting in your original words (if there is some originality in the words). Therefore, care should be taken with e-mail messages containing defamatory statements since these tend to be forwarded. If the original publisher ought to have known that such an e-mail message will be forwarded to others, the extent of his liability becomes much larger. The person who forwards the e-mail message will also be liable. Any person or company that uploads or creates defamatory content on the Internet would be deemed a publisher of such defamatory material. So besides the writer of a blog, an Internet service provider (ISP), the one that gave the blogger network access and enabling such defamatory words to be posted could also be liable. However, Section 10 of the Singapore Electronic Transactions Act (Cap 88) gives ISPs immunity on the basis that ISPs merely provide access to electronic records and are usually deemed to be the conduits who do not exercise editorial control over the content that passes through its systems. But if defamatory material was posted on a forum or blog and someone brought this to the attention of the blog owner, blog host or ISP and they fail to remove the defamatory material, then either of them could be liable. This story was first published in The Straits Times Digital Life. http://digital.asiaone.com/Digital/Features/Story/A1Story20090812-160720.html