EXISTING STATUTORY LAW DETERMINES BLOGGER'S DEFAMATION LIABILITY

KUCHING (Malaysia), July 23 (Bernama) -- The question of whether a blog site
owner or editor is liable for defamation depends very much on the country's
existing statutory law, said British barrister Dr Venkat Iyer.

He said judges would need to look at the legislation as it would take a very
descriptive approach to say that both would be liable or otherwise, unless the
online reader's attention had been specifically drawn to a legally difficult
statement.

Dr Iyer, who is also senior lecturer of the Univerisity of Ulster's School
of Law, United Kingdom, said: "Sometimes, the person who owns the blog site
might not even be aware that the particular posting has been made. So, under
those circumstances, you need to be careful not to penalise the editor.

"But, if it turns out that the blog site owner is aware of the nature of
posting, then I would say it would be justified in holding the blog site owner
and editor liable for defamation."

He was replying to a query by East Malaysia states of Sarawak and Sabah
Chief Judge Richard Malanjum on whether an online owner or the poster was
accountable for adverse and negative remarks posted on online portals.

Malanjum said it was a bit unfortunate that the courts became the victims of
"horrible remarks" on the few online portals in Malaysia, which sometimes posted
comments with contents that the readers could not even swallow.

Earlier, Dr Iyer delivered a talk on 'Media Law, Right to Privacy and
Bloggers', at a dinner in the Kuching Court Complex here last night.

On the usefulness of disclaimer clauses to the blog site owner, Dr Iyer
said, it was not foolproof that complete immunity would be enjoyed because,
unlike conventional media, blogs were unmoderated in most cases.

"Blogs which are either news or opinionated are not static as most bulletin
boards or discussion forums, and act as a medium in-between newspapers," he
said.

Despite the serious nature of legal challenges, including defamation,
contempt of court, harassment, violation of copyright and national security
threats which were not always in terms of substantive law, he noted a need
for pragmatic approach, rather than legislative laws that could be too harsh.

"The analogy with the British law on confidentiality of journalists' sources
might be a good model to follow because at the end of the day, it is for the
judges to apply the law sensibly," he said.

Having visited a number of courts within Commonwealth countries, he was
impressed with the facilities and great dedication shown by the court officers
at the Kuching court complex.
-- BERNAMA