As many of you are no doubt aware, British libel laws are a joke. They demand that the defendent prove that the statements that he or she made were not libellous, rather than letting the burden of proof rest on the claimant. This is a guilty-until-proven-innocent system, and is frequently used to promote a chilling effect on free speech, as in the case of Simon Singh, an English reporter who was recently sued by the British Chiropractic Association for calling their treatments "bogus". Which they are.
This free speech issue affects us all the more because of so-called libel tourism, which means that if you're a Canadian blogger, publishing to an American webserver, and you happen to offend someone in the United Kingdom, they can sue you in their courts.
But there is hope. You can go to libelreform.org and sign their petition to support free speech.
This is important. Defend your right to question everything.
No comments:
Post a Comment