Just when we get freedom of speech on the Internet, someone tries to take it away

Wayne Crookes photo: P2Pnet
The Supreme Court of Canada is getting ready to hear the case of Wayne Crookes, a former fund-raiser and organizer for the BC Green Party.
Crookes took offense at alleged derogatory remarks made about him on several websites including Open Politics.ca
That’s the nature of the web, people say the rudest things, some of them nasty and perhaps defamatory. They do it anonymously. In the US, the web site and host can rely on safe-harbor provisions of the CDA (Communications Decency Act). “No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider.” Section 230
Canada doesn’t have the same provisions although journalists are protected from defamation lawsuits when they report the facts they know. Continue reading →