• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer

Talk About Local HomepageTalk About Local

Hyperlocal in the UK

  • Home
  • Working with us
  • In the press
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • LNE

Libel, defamation and keeping it legal

18th November 2009 by William Perrin

You need to take care that your website, the comments on it etc stay legal.  One important part of that is libel, slander or ‘defamation’ as they are both properly called.  Defamation law in England is draconian if you get it wrong.  But this is easy to avoid.

We aren’t lawyers here at talk about local so we can’t give you full advice.  But we can point you to some good advice on the web written by lawyers.  These links come recommended by the web community, but it is of course up to you to make your own judgements about them.

Three UK law firms offer free guides to issues around defamation in plain English:

Out Law offers some good general advice.  Their top tip is

‘Like many areas of law, liability for defamation can be avoided by taking a common sense approach. If you are an ISP , listen to complaints. If it is appropriate, remove offending material which you host; if you are in doubt, seek legal advice or, at the very least, err on the side of caution…’

And Website Law delivers some top tips ‐ 10 things webmasters should know about libel

David Price solicitors provide a guide to defamation issues from the plaintiff, defendant angle

If you want more detailed information in a book for bed time reading, many journalists we speak to swear by McNaes ‘Essential Law for Journalists’

Robertson’s Media Law is also highly recommended by journalists.

We hope this is helpful – we are rounding up more advice so keep an eye on this site for updates.

  • About
  • Latest Posts
Follow Will
William Perrin
Founder of Talk About Local, Trustee of the Indigo Trust, Tinder Foundation, 360Giving, co-founder Connect8, former member of UK Government transparency panels, former Policy Advisor to UK Prime Minister, former Cabinet Office senior civil servant.Open data do-er, Kings Cross London blogger. Loves countryside. Two small children.
Follow Will
Latest posts by William Perrin (see all)
  • So what does the digital charter mean? - 21st June 2017
  • Hyperlocal blog can help hold power to account in tower block blaze - 14th June 2017
  • A vision for regulating the digital sphere after Brexit? - 6th April 2017

Filed Under: Other Tools and Tips, Quick Tips, Writing and Content Ideas Tagged With: davidpricesolicitors, defamation, legal, libel, mcnae, outlaw, websitelaw

Reader Interactions

Trackbacks

  1. 17 resources for improving your blog « Creating a website for community groups says:
    19th April 2010 at 4:15 pm

    […] Talk About Local’s Libel and Defamation blog post […]

  2. Legal Resources for Hyperlocals from #LNO10 — Journal Local says:
    25th September 2010 at 2:36 pm

    […] Libel, defamation – keeping it legal by Talk About Local […]

Footer

Search

  • Contact
  • Guidelines
  • Legal

© 2022 · talk about local · Maintained by Mike