Mobifun’s Weblog

In the US, when someone threatens to sue a site like Google or Wikipedia because of postings made by its users that are defamatory, you just point them to section 230 of the Communications Decency Act that makes it clear that service providers aren’t liable for what their users say — a law that makes a lot of sense.

Courts have been getting faster and faster at throwing out those types of cases. Unfortunately, it sounds like Canada doesn’t have a similar law (or case history).

In Vancouver, a former Green Party staff member is apparently suing Google, Wikipedia and a Canadian political website over postings on all three that he felt were defamatory. The guy is quoted as saying: “I’m determined that the people who have acted so irresponsibly will find that there are consequences.”

 Does he sue the phone company if someone says something bad about him over the phone?