People become very brave on the Internet when they’re able to hide behind anonymity. We’ll see how that holds up after a recent court ruling in Halifax that allowed the identification of individuals who posted potentially libellous comments about two firefighters.
The attorney for Halifax fire chief Bill Mosher and deputy chief Stephen Thurber applied through the courts for the identities of people who made allegedly damaging comments about the two on a newspaper’s online postings.
The firefighters can now decide whether they want to launch a suit over the comments. The postings that upset the chief and deputy were about alleged racism on the department.
This has been a grey area. Anyone who follows online comments carried by news media will be aware of the absurdities and sometimes vitriolic comments aimed at individuals, groups or political entities. Such commentators often hide behind fanciful pseudonymns.
Nova Scotia Supreme Court Justice Heather Robertson ordered the newspaper to provide information enabling the identification. In her ruling, Robertson said the court doesn’t “condone the conduct of anonymous Internet users who make defamatory comments.”
It’s about time this kind of behaviour sees some reining in.
Most websites for media organizations have monitoring to varying degrees. The idea is to encourage exchange of ideas, and anonymity can be a positive element – for example, someone wants to state informaton but could face reprisal from an employer. Unfortunately, some take advantage of the leeway to utter malice and contempt.
Freedom of speech doesn’t mean anything goes. It comes with a responsibility to use discretion and make statements that are verifiable or fair comment.
Let’s hope this ruling leads to a little more decorum on a medium that has been allowing people to shoot off their mouths with no boundaries.
