Who is a Public Figure?
Posted by Anthony LaFauce on January 11th, 2008 1:23 PMI just finished reading a short story posted in the United Press International coming out if Cincinnati about three teens who were suspended from school. The long and short of it is this: three students created a Facebook profile of a teacher. Then then listed that teacher as a ‘pedophile’.
This is a pretty simple case of defamation right? The teens posted a false statement about a teacher with the intent to cause malice, open and shut case. Not necessarily, the students and parents claimed it was a ‘free speech’ exercise that took place outside of school. This defense is nonsense.
Free speech does not cover defamation. Defamation, slander and liable, are some tricky questions when it comes to free speech, but most agree that private figures receive sweeping protection from defamation simply because they are private figures.
The real reason the students haven’t received a real punishment, they were suspended from school for 10 days, is because they used a picture of the teacher they found online. The line between private figure and public figure had been crossed, once the teacher had placed his photo online, for all intent and purposes of the law he had become a public figure. Proving defamation against a public figure is incredibly time consuming and very expensive.
I am interested to hear if any of you have opinions on this story. Do any of you think that posting a photo online, creating a Facebook page, or blogging makes you a public figure? According to the law it does, do you agree?
January 11th, 2008 at 2:00 pm
Can you please support your assertion that “posting a photo online, creating a Facebook page, or blogging makes you a public figure…according to the law?” I am particularly interested in the “posting a photo online” and “creating a Facebook page” portion of your assertion.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
So we’re all public figures?
Somehow I doubt that.
January 11th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
The law is going to have to change. As more and more high school students join Facebook and MySpace, and kids as young as 4 or 5 are learning to use computers, eventually everyone will be considered a “public figure” by the current definition.
As a side note, it’s libel, not liable.
January 11th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
Yikes - sounds like a big fat gray area of the law to me. I’m of the belief *anything* posted online is for public viewing. However, that does in no way, shape or form provide permission for others to create false identities, profiles or comments.
What a tragic case - I hope the authorities take appropriate action. If the teacher is completely innocent, sounds like a tough one to clear. But if there’s an iota of doubt… well who knows.
January 15th, 2008 at 10:54 am
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