Mick’s former colleague at the Telegraph blog, Shane Richmond, has spotted a “disappointing” High Court ruling on the exemption for liability of Labourhome.org site operator Alex Hilton for a potentially libellous post above the fold that would also seem to apply to what’s said in the comments zone. From Shane’s post
In a judgment at the end of last month Mr Justice Stadlen ruled that even fixing the grammar or spelling in a users’ posts could make a publication liable for the content. Struan Robertson of Pinsent Masons, quoted on the Out-Law blog, said: “Even an attempt to filter for profanities or comment spam, if done manually, involves a risk for the publisher. If you want to be sure that you’re not liable for what your users say, the judge is basically saying you need to ignore user contributions completely until you get a complaint.” [added emphasis]
I usually try my best to do just that… [*ahem* – Ed] Oh, and Mick, I apologise in advance! Just in case…
