The Defamation Bill, announced in last week’s Queen’s Speech, has been published. Click here for coverage – http://www.libelreform.org/news/524-libel-reform-is-in-the-queens-speech
The Libel Reform Campaign, consisting of nearly 100 organisations and 60,000 individuals, has been calling for this since December 2009. Now the work begins to examine whether the reforms will do away with the bullying effects of the current laws. The campaign continues to fight for:
- a public interest defence so people can defend themselves unless the claimant can show they have been malicious or reckless;
- a strong test of harm that strikes out claims unless the claimant can demonstrate serious and substantial harm and they have a real prospect of vindication;
- a restriction on corporations’ ability to use the libel laws to silence criticism;
- provisions for online hosts and intermediaries, who are not authors nor traditional publishers.
