Way back in 2007 I wrote a post about how what you say and do on a social network could just come back to haunt you. Now it seems like South Africa has its first case of someone being charged for posting defamatory messages on Facebook.
According to news paper reports - see here, here and here, Duane Brady allegedly left a series of derogatory and defamatory comments on Daniella Cox's Facebook wall.
Brady was arrested on Monday after Cox reported the comment to the police and is being charged with crimen injuria and common assault. For those who don’t know, (I had to look it up) crimen injuria is a criminal offense in South Africa and is committed when a person deliberately injures another’s dignity.
It is going to be very interesting to see how this plays out because as Paul Jacobson, a Web and digital media lawyer points out, this is the first case in South Africa involving a Facebook posting and this case might well set an important precedent. And with the South African Facebook population showing few signs of slowing growth, now really is the time to start paying attention to the images, videos and comments you post and how they could end up affecting others’ privacy and dignity – and ultimately your freedom.
Muti
Thanks for the mention. I wrote a post the other day which deals with the legal issues in a little more detail and which your readers may find informative. The post is at http://webtechlaw.com/eldorado-park-man-prosecuted-criminal-defamation-facebook
Posted by Paul Jacobson on 2009/01/17