How Not To Get Sued For Blogging

July 22nd, 2008 | Author: Jim Hutchinson

Lawsuits against bloggers for libel continue to rise. Having the freedom to express our opinions is what makes blogging so popular. What happens though when that freedom of speech is used in a negative manner against another person?
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Retaliation from the subjects (victims) is becoming more popular. An article by ABC News states, “there have been 159 civil and criminal court actions involving bloggers”. The continue with, “Seven cases have resulted in verdicts against bloggers, with cumulative penalties totaling $18.5 million.” Those are just the ones that went to trial.

If you plan to report derogatory facts about someone, you have to be careful what you say. Imagine yourself on the other end of that report. How would you feel? How would you handle having your personal life thrown out into the public?

If you run a business, you could probably add a few more charges onto that, such as defamation of character resulting in loss of business. Before you follow suit of the tabloids, make sure you can back up your claims. You will also want to have a very good lawyer and lots of money to carry you through the legal process when your urge to unveil the secrets of others comes back at you.

Keep your articles real, informative, fun and even controversial. Just be careful when you start using real names as the target of your reports. If you feel a burning desire to write about an issue and are concerned that you could get sued, change the names in your story. Quote the source(s) of your information, where applicable.
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If the topic is very personal, something that you would not want the world to know about in your own life, choose a different topic. That is of course, unless you too want to make headline news for being the next blogger to defend yourself in court. In that case, only you can decide if your 2 minute news report was worth it.