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United Kingdom serious harminternet publicationpreliminary issue

Ames v Spamhaus Project Ltd

[2015] EWHC 127 (QB)
JurisdictionUnited Kingdom
CourtHigh Court of Justice, Queen's Bench Division
Year2015
StatusPersuasive authority

Key Principle

Under section 1 of the Defamation Act 2013 a statement is not defamatory unless its publication has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to the claimant's reputation; this raises the threshold above the old common-law presumption of damage, and the serious-harm issue is generally best resolved as a preliminary issue, especially where the extent of publication is in dispute.

Area of Law

media

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