Lies, Misinformation, Slander, Libel and Defamation

Thoughts and Observations about Defamation, Slander and Libel:

“Here's one rule-of-thumb: No matter how bad a story sounds - particularly if it sounds bad - recognize the pattern of defamation.” Marvin Olasky – U.S. scholar, senior fellow of the Discovery Institute, affiliate scholar at the Acton Institute, chairs the Zenger House Foundation, serves as a Zenger Prize judge.

“Defamation; is an act of impiety.” Kristian Goldmund Aumann - Austrian author, screenwriter, filmmaker, director and actor

“Rumor was the messenger --- Of defamation, and so swift --- That none could be the first to tell an evil tale.” Robert Pollok – Scottish/U.K poet.

“Slanderous words are irretrievable, especially on social media: We cannot call back the arrow we've shot into the air, the water under the bridge, or the spoken word.” Loren Hardin – U.S. author.

“Defamation typically involves words, and defamation is a long-recognized exception to the First Amendment’s protections. … The standard for defamation of public figures in the United States is high in order to protect freedom of speech in general and political debate in particular. … While running for president in 2016, Donald Trump declared his intention to ‘open up the libel laws.’ Supreme Court Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch have voiced support for overturning the landmark 1964 case New York Times Company v. Sullivan, which set the legal standard for defamation high for those deemed to be “public figures.” Under that standard, known as ‘actual malice,’ a public figure typically has to prove that the person they are suing either knew what they said to be false or held a ‘reckless disregard’ for whether it was true.” From an essay about the Alex Jones-Sandy Hook Elementary School defamation lawsuit posted on October 17, 2022 on The Atlantic, written by Adam Serwer – U.S. journalist, staff writer at The Atlantic.

“Slander is an admission that you don't have anything else worthwhile to say. It is a clear indication of both your personal emotional bankruptcy and the paucity of whatever arguments you are advancing.” Rebecca Hamilton – U.S. educator, associate professor of law at American University, Washington College of Law, teaching criminal law, national security law, and international law.

“Slander is the biggest occupation of a man who produces nothing but lies!” Mehmet Murat Ildan - Turkish playwright, novelist.

“A lie can travel half way around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes.”?Mark Twain – U.S. writer.

“In the size of the lie is always contained a certain factor of credulity, since the great masses of the people….will more easily fall victims to a great lie than to a small one. The victor will never be asked if he told the truth.” Adolf Hitler - Austrian-born/German politician, dictator of Germany.

“If you repeat a lie often enough, people will believe it. It really is public brainwashing and misinformation.”?Robert Kane Pappas – U.S. filmmaker.

“Lies, misinformation, and conspiracy theories are not free speech. They are fraud and propaganda.” DaShanne Stokes – U.S. author, sociologist.

“Just because something isn't a lie does not mean that it isn't deceptive. A liar knows that he is a liar, but one who speaks mere portions of truth in order to deceive is a craftsman of destruction.” Criss Jami – U.S. writer, philosopher, musician.

“Those who can make people believe absurdities, can make people commit atrocities.” Voltaire – French writer, historian, philosopher.

“Truth and lies are always at war in an election season. But increasingly, politicians are deploying a troubling new weapon in that battle — the threat of defamation claims against the press. Whether wielded by former President Donald Trump against CNN or Georgia Senate candidate Herschel Walker against the Daily Beast, to take two recent examples, this strategy may result in the exact opposite of what defamation law is designed to do. Once a relatively rare move for public officials, threatening a libel suit is fast becoming a go-to tool for some who hope to influence public narratives, if not right wrongs. Politicians almost never ultimately win these cases. But they can bolster their own messaging, and indeed are counting on the public’s attention span being too short to care about the actual resolution in court.?Legal experts have denounced Trump’s latest suit as flimsy and frivolous. If the case proceeds, a court is likely to find that the statements he’s challenging are all either accurate reporting of his political opponents’ criticisms, protected statements of opinion, or the sort of discussion of a public official that is broadly safeguarded by freedom of speech. (…) Although Trump’s position appears to have gained some traction with a couple of justices at the Supreme Court, the existing doctrine in the area remains deeply protective of the right of the press and the citizenry to discuss their current or would-be leaders. The odds that any elected official or candidate emerges victorious in a defamation suit are exceedingly low. But again, winning a defamation lawsuit is not the goal here. Announcing it is. Trump has a longstanding pattern of threatening libel actions that he either does not bring or does not continue — instead using them as performative indignance. (…) Some of these suits, like the one threatened against The New York Times after it published an article on his suspect tax schemes, were never filed at all. (…) Trump knows that this is about the court of public opinion more than it is about the court of law. (…) This strategy flips the goal of defamation law on its head: Rather than being a tool for ferreting out actual truth, it becomes little more than a PR mechanism for placing an exclamation point at the end of a politician’s emphatic denial.?(…) A lawsuit that is filed or threatened is of course not the same thing as a lawsuit that is won. But this nuance is hard to convey in our political and communications environment, and the public does not always have the energy to follow up and find out whether these suits moved forward and if so, how they were resolved. And public officials crying ‘defamation’ may be banking on it.” From an essay published on October 8, 2022 on Think (NBC site devoted to Opinion, Analysis and Essays) written by Ron Nell Anderson Jones - U.S. journalist/academic, Lee E. Teitelbaum endowed professor of law and associate dean of faculty and research at the S.J. Quinney College of Law at the University of Utah, affiliated fellow at Yale Law School's Information Society Project.

“The biggest liar in the world is They Say.” Douglas Malloch – U.S. poet.

“When the debate is lost, slander becomes the tool of the loser.”?Socrates - Greek philosopher.

“If you think you can slander a woman into loving you, or a man into voting for you, try it till you are satisfied.” Abraham Lincoln – U.S. lawyer, statesman, served as 16th U.S. president.

“Slander is the tool of cowards. Slander reveals the greatest truth about the coward implementing it.” Vanna Bonta - Italian-U.S. writer, actress, inventor.

“Those who have the greatest cause for guilt and shame are quickest to besmirch a neighbor’s name.” From the play “Tartuffe”, written by Molière - French playwright, actor.

“You injure yourself by your own vindictiveness, and give your enemies too great an advantage, if you accuse them of things that are not true, and tell lies in order to disparage them.” Jean de La Bruyère - French essayist, moralist

“To vilify a great man is the readiest way in which a little man can himself attain greatness.” Edgar Allan Poe – U.S. writer.

“To speak evil of anyone, unless there is unequivocal proofs of their deserving it, is an injury for which there is no adequate reparation.” George Washington – U.S. military officer, statesman, served as the first U.S. president.

“Defamation lawsuits can provide some relief to victims of horrendous lies, but they cannot fully repair the damage that has already been done. (…) Defamation and libel lawsuits can be misused: Companies or individuals with deep pockets can sue scientists who object to claims about their products or newspapers that expose their wrongdoing, for example. The costs of defending against such claims can have a deterrent and silencing effect. But that’s an argument for better protections against frivolous suits, not against holding liars accountable. Defamation lawsuits are not an easy path to accountability. Plaintiffs must prove not just that statements were false but also that they caused harm. In the case of public figures, plaintiffs must prove that the defendant either knew the statements were false or that they showed a reckless disregard for the truth." From an essay regarding the Alex Jones-Sandy Hook School Elementary School defamation lawsuit, published October 16, 2022 in the New York Times, written by Zeynep Tufekci – U.S. sociologist, columnist for The New York Times.

?“A rumor is a social cancer: it is difficult to contain and it rots the brains of the masses. However, the real danger is that so many people find rumors enjoyable. That part causes the infection. And in such cases when a rumor is only partially made of truth, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly where the information may have gone wrong. It is passed on and on until some brave soul questions its validity; that brave soul refuses to bite the apple and let the apple eat him. Forced to start from scratch for the sake of purity and truth, that brave soul, figuratively speaking, fully amputates the information in order to protect his personal judgment. In other words, his ignorance is to be valued more than the lie believed to be true.” Criss Jami – U.S. writer, philosopher, musician.

“Slander slays three people: the speaker, the spoken to, and the spoken of.” Hebrew Proverb

“I never found a slanderer who dared to meet face to face the person whom he abused and vilified.” Joseph Bartlett – U.S. politician, real estate agent.

“Slander is a knife with no handle. It is murder with words, and it does wound the person who is slandered. But it cuts the slanderer himself even more deeply.” Rebecca Hamilton – U.S. educator, associate professor of law at American University, Washington College of Law, teaching criminal law, national security law, and international law

“We reveal most about ourselves when we speak about others.” Kamand Kojouri – Iranian born/U.K. writer.?

“Often those that criticize others reveal what he himself lacks.” Shannon L. Alder – U.S. writer, therapist.

“Isn’t it kind of silly to think that tearing someone else down builds you up??Sean Covey – U.S. business executive, author, president of Franklin Covey Education.

“Be extra careful in the work environment with those who like to maintain their position through charm and being political, rather than getting things done. They are very prone to envying and hating those who work hard and get results. They will slander and sabotage you without any warning.” Robert Greene – U.K. Playwright

“An evil-speaker differs from an evil-doer only in the want of opportunity.”?Marcus Fabius Quintilianus – Roman educator, orator.

“The remedy for speech that is false is speech that is true. This is the ordinary course in a free society. The response to the unreasoned is the rational; to the uninformed, the enlightened; to the straight-out lie, the simple truth.” Anthony Kennedy – U.S. Supreme Court Justice.

“Just deeds are the best answer to injurious words.” John Milton – U.K. poet.

“We want to protect freedom of speech, but it is not unlimited freedom of speech. There has always been rules around defamation, slander and libel, and in Victoria, we have effective rules on racial and religious vilification.” Denis Napthine – Australian politician.

“Congress created a safe harbor for defamation in 1996 and for copyright in 1998. Both safe harbors were designed to ensure that the Internet would remain a participatory medium of speech.” Marvin Ammori – U.S. lawyer.

“Our view is that defamation should never be a criminal offense. It's not a crime. If in the exercise of free speech you offend someone or defame someone . . . it's a civil matter between the journalist and the person who was allegedly defamed.” Joel Simon – U.S. writer.

“Journalists who make mistakes get sued for libel; historians who make mistakes get to publish a revised edition.” Bill Moyers – U.S. journalist, political commentator.

“As children we are taught, "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me!" As adults we teach those same words to our own children while simultaneously we sue one another for defamation or verbal assault. Ah, the naked leading the blind.” Bryan Oftedahl – U.S. writer.

“Arguments cannot be answered by personal abuse; there is no logic in slander, and falsehood, in the long run, defeats itself.” Robert G. Ingersoll – U.S. lawyer, writer.

“Backstabbers and malicious people are not worth your attention, but you can thank them for deeming you worthy of theirs.” J.S. Wolfe – U.S. writer, filmmaker.

“Slander is the revenge of a coward, and dissimulation of his defense.” Samuel Johnson – U.K. writer.

“Our ignorance of history causes us to slander our own times.” Gustave Flaubert- French writer.

“Slander soaks into the mind as water into low and marshy places, where it becomes stagnant and offensive.” Confucius - Chinese philosopher, politician.

“A people that were to honour falsehood, defamation, fraud, and murder would be unable, indeed, to subsist for very long.” Albert Einstein – German born/U.S. theoretical physicist.

“Walk away from gossip and verbal defamation. Speak only the good you know of other people and encourage others to do the same.” Steve Maraboli – U.S. writer, philanthropist, recipient of the United Nations Award for Philanthropy.

“Truth is generally the best vindication against slander.” Abraham Lincoln - U.S. lawyer, statesman, served as 16th U.S. president.

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