Man sues 27 women in an 'Are We Dating the Same Guy' Facebook group
Man sues 27 women in an 'Are We Dating the Same Guy' Facebook group
A Chicago man is suing 27 women in the Chicago Facebook Group "Are we dating the same guy." Attorneys for the man liken disparaging remarks made about him to a digital scarlet letter.
Nick Canon, is that you?
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"says the women who use these groups aren't doing anything wrong as long as what they're sharing is their opinion or the truth" what possibly could go wrong with that?
I understand the sentiment, creating a space where women could feel more safe when meeting with complete strangers by asking other woman. But this has so much potential for abuse that I cannot really see how it could have a positive impact. A crazy ex can already ruin the social life of a person by spreading lies to your inner circle (people of all genders are perfectly capable of this), but if this kind of things gain traction, they would be capable to remotely ruin any new attempt of creating a new life far away.
Lies would qualify as defamatory. But most guys talked about in groups like this are not added on a whim. And to have that many women mentioning him, there isn't much chance of all 27 lying. Hell, the fact that there even is 27 women that dated him that found the page... says alot.
But most guys talked about in groups like this are not added on a whim
Most women are probably not posting on a whim, but there are certainly people out there who thrive on drama and enjoy lying about people just to get a thrill out of it.
Oh absolutely. The article is very vague, but his behaviour seems quite fishy, based on the little information we have...
This makes question though, where is the line between private conversation and public defamation?
We probably all agree talking smack between friends is ok, and defaming someone on xitter is not. The hard bit for me is where is the line between the two?
I believe the line is drawn based on intent. Talking behind a person's back to vent out some frustration is not considering defamation. Spreading lies with the intent of ruining the reputation (both on social media or in person), or in general causing harm is defamation.
But I am in no way qualified to give that answer, so I hope someone more knowledgeable could correct me.
It seems this instance was neither one of those, it was to inform others of their experiences with the person. What do you think this falls under? If I can say true but defaming things about a restaurant, can I also about a person? It’s a tough grey area.
The actual lawsuit puts up an example of a woman who posted an article about a sexual assault (iirc?) in a discussion aboht him, implying he's the perp and the lawyer is playing those types of things as what becomes defamation.
Yeah, that’s pretty clear, but unless all 27 were also saying that the perp was him, saying other things like their opinions of him, etc aren’t really meeting that mark.
If it's true it isn't defamation. It isn't defamation if you reasonably believe it to be true, I'm fact (at least here in the UK).
The question would probably come down to "valid criticism" vs "harassment". 1A does get into some thorny issues about when protected free speech crosses a line. I would expect that something that is objectively true (i.e. factual) would have more leeway than a subjective opinion.