I have spent three (3) weeks focusing my attention on the Ministry of Health, and while I am by no means finished with that area, I feel compelled to venture into a slightly new ground today.
Social media has become a tool of connectivity. We have been able to easily reach out to friends and family from all over the globe. We get to see little snippets of their lives that several years ago, we would not have easily been able to witness. We can now go live and have our friends view in real time, the many events happening around us. We are now able to stay connected to the ones we love despite the hundreds or thousands of miles between us.
But, as we sometimes forget, too much of one thing can be good for nothing. Social media is fantastic when used properly, but it can be an instrument of mayhem and chaos when misused. Information, despite its accuracy or lack thereof, can be shared by one click. No one takes the time to confirm the truth of the statements or photographs shared. Instead, people elect to hide behind screen names, fake profiles and launch unwarranted attacks on the characters of persons both in and out of public life.
I have advised several persons on actions to be taken against persons who have attempted to defame or slander them on social media. During this week, I observed the photographs, memes and general statements making the rounds about Mrs Sharon Rowley, the wife of our Prime Minister. Let me say quickly, I don’t know Mrs. Rowley personally and I don’t know whether anything said carried even an iota of truth. What I do know, is that she is one of the millions of women in the world who has had her name slandered by people simply out to do harm. It worries me though, how willing other women were to pull down a fellow woman. Clearly, we are not our sister’s keeper.
Social media users need to be aware that defamation can be extended to social media posts and actions. Defamation is simply defined as “the publication of a statement which reflects on a person’s reputation and tends to lower him/her in the estimation of right-thinking members of society generally or tend to make them shun or avoid him/her.” It should also be clearly understood that once a statement which can be construed as defamatory is written and published, then the tort of libel is committed. The important point to note here, is that if a court believes that the defamatory statements amount to libel, the court can order certain financial compensations (damages). So, in local terms, you might have to put your money where your mouth is. To clarify, Trinidad and Tobago does have the benefit of a Libel and Defamation Act, which I believe is slightly outdated and in need of amendments. Some of those amendments should well be aimed at online conduct.
Not all negative statements will be deemed as defamatory. There is a defence open to persons who are accused of defamation and that is the defence of justification. Section 3 of the Libel and Defamation Act states as follows-:
“In any action for defamation or for libel, the defendant may plead the truth of the matters charged by way of justification in the same manner as he might do in a like action in a Court in England and the plea shall be a sufficient answer in law to any such action; and if, on the issue joined on such plea, a verdict is given for the defendant, the defendant shall have final judgment and recover his costs of suit.”
One must understand that the law itself goes much deeper than the above paragraph. In determining justification, the court must consider the meaning of the statements made by the person accused of defamation and this meaning. It does not necessarily mean that what the accused believe is justification for his/her statement if in actuality a true means of justification.
With that being said, how many of us really consider whether the statements we are posting can be justified, not many I believe. Instead, we allow our emotions at the moment to govern our social media conduct. It is becoming increasingly common to have actions brought against persons for defamation on a social media platform. We should become more vigilant in the statements that are made. We should also be mindful that once a statement is posted, it is difficult to simply delete. Posts are shared within seconds, there are various screenshots and private messages. Once we allow ourselves to engage with social media, it is difficult to redo the statements that we put out there.