Support for ruling

The landmark ruling by Justice Frank Seepersad ordering a woman to compensate an entire family for defamatory remarks against them on Facebook is a timely one, according to attorney Ramesh Lawrence Maharaj, SC. On Monday, Seepersad ordered Janelle Burke to pay compensation and the family’s legal fees, which were to be assessed by a Master of the High Court.

“I think it is a very timely and appropriate ruling, because I think it makes Facebook and social media accountable for their publications. It is important for persons who are libelled and defamed to have redress against the publishers, so I think it’s a great development of the law in TT,” Maharaj said.

He said it was important for judges to move the law forward as society developed, because there must be judicial activism to grant redress for aggrieved individuals for wrongs done to them. Maharaj said claiming one’s Facebook account had been hacked, as was the case with Burke, could be used as a defence, but the fact someone claimed they had been hacked should not prevent people from getting redress, and the court was there to investigate defences.

“I suppose if one wants to say his or her account was hacked, the court would investigate that to determine whether that was so or not,” he said. Attorney Israel Khan agreed it was a good ruling, because he felt people in TT were abusing the system by libelling others. “If they want to run the risk of libelling people, then they will stand the consequences,” he said, adding that the law would continue to develop.

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