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Cracking Down on Bloggers
- 10/04/06
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Yesterday’s edition of USA Today published an article entitled “Courts are asked to crack down on bloggers, websites” and subheaded “Those attacked online are filing libel lawsuits.” Written by Laura Parker, it details an increasing number of lawsuits launched by companies and individuals against bloggers.
It begins by discussing Rafe Banks, a lawyer in Georgia, who became involved in an ugly dispute with a client over how to defend him. The client, David Milum, fired Banks and demanded that the lawyer refund a $3,000 fee. Banks refused.
Milum eventually was acquitted. Ordinarily, that might have been the last Banks ever heard about his former client. But then Milum started a blog.In May 2004, Banks was stunned to learn that Milum’s blog was accusing the lawyer of bribing judges on behalf of drug dealers. At the end of one posting, Milum wrote, “Rafe, don’t you wish you had given back my $3,000 retainer?”
Banks, saying the postings were false, sued Milum. And last January, Milum became the first blogger in the USA to lose a libel suit, according to the Media Law Resource Center in New York, which tracks litigation involving bloggers. Milum was ordered to pay Banks $50,000.
According to USA Today this case reflects how blogs are increasingly being targeted by those who feel harmed by blog attacks.
In the past two years, more than 50 lawsuits stemming from postings on blogs and website message boards have been filed across the nation. The suits have spawned a debate over how the ‘blogosphere’ and its revolutionary impact on speech and publishing might change libel law.Legal analysts say the lawsuits are challenging a mind-set that has long surrounded blogging: that most bloggers essentially are “judgment-proof” because they — unlike traditional media such as newspapers, magazines and television outlets — often are ordinary citizens who don’t have a lot of money. Recent lawsuits by Banks and others who say they have had their reputations harmed or their privacy violated have been aimed not just at cash awards but also at silencing their critics.
Bloggers have long assumed that they were immune to charges of libel, but it seems this is increasingly being proven a false assumption. The article goes on to detail several cases where bloggers were sued for libel. Many of the comments were fallout from sexual escapades where scorned women went online to post libelous comments about former lovers. The recent dispute (involving the now-dismissed lawsuit) between Ligonier Ministries and Frank Vance was also mentioned.
Robert Cox, founder and president of the Media Bloggers Association, which has 1,000 members, says the recent wave of lawsuits means that bloggers should bone up on libel law. “It hasn’t happened yet, but soon, there will be a blogger who is successfully sued and who loses his home,” he says. “That will be the shot heard round the blogosphere.” With the scandalous information being posted online, it truly is only a matter of time before a blogger loses all he has, and perhaps reasonably so. “Susan Crawford, a professor at Cardozo Law School in New York who specializes in media and Internet issues, says the ease with which false postings can be corrected instantly, among other things, will force judges to reconsider how to measure the damage that is done to a plaintiff’s reputation.” A person’s online reputation is becoming increasingly important as prospective employers now routinely search online for information about a potential employee. The same is true of a potential mate. A few libelous comments online has the potential to have devastating and far-reaching effects.
“People take advantage of the anonymity to say things in public they would never say to anyone face-to-face,” Cox says. “That’s where you get these horrible comments. This is standard operating procedure.”
This is an interesting article and one that raises some important concerns. I think it raises questions that are of particular importance to Christian bloggers.
Bloggers perceive a great freedom when they write; they sometimes perceive that they have immunity from standards of right and wrong. Far too often people post something online that they would never say face-to-face. What would be shameful in direct communication is standard fare for many blogs. Most bloggers learn quickly that the titillating and the tantalizing generate buzz, comments and visitors. While the vast majority of bloggers are harmless, writing about only what is of direct importance to them, there are many others who seek only to discourage and destroy.
As Christians, we are called to a high standard—we are called to holiness. We are not to push the limits of what is decent and what is true, but to serve and to be a blessing to others. We are not to ask “Is this libelous? Will I be sued if I publish this?”, but we are to ask “Will this serve the person I am writing about? Will this serve the church? Will this bring glory to God? Will this defend the truth?”
The blogosphere is still immature and, in many ways, untested. Blogs are a new and growing phenomena, but they are also a new and growing concern. It will not be long before the courts begin, justly I think, to crack down on bloggers who are libelous towards others. The proverbial “shot heard round the blogosphere” is probably not far off. As painful as this may be for those involved, I suspect it will prove beneficial to the blogosphere.
My encouragement to my fellow Christian bloggers is to ensure that we are not among those who are sure to make headlines by being involved in these cases. We have an opportunity to shine a light even in the blogosphere. How tragic it would be to read headlines in national newspapers providing the lurid details of what one Christian had done to another or said about another. Let us be certain that we constantly seek to serve and that we pursue holiness rather than popularity. Let us set the standard for respect and fellowship. Let us take the better path and show our love for God in our love for one another.
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
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Comments (29)
NOTE: I do not want this to become a place to discuss the Ligonier vs Vance situation. Any comments about this situation will be erased. If you want to talk about it, go to Vance’s site.
Let us be certain that we constantly seek to serve and that we pursue holiness rather than popularity. Let us set the standard for respect and fellowship. Let us take the better path and show our love for God in our love for one another.
Tim,I think this is very well said. The pursuit of holiness seems to be an area of little concern these days, whereas the pursuit for popularity is ever increasing.
An additional thought I had when I read your last sentence about showing our love for God and for another is how that love should also manifest itself in a hatred for sin and all things that set out to defame the name of Christ.
MacArthur talks about this in his 9/12 broadcast, about how Christians are called to hate certain things. The question is how should that hatred for things that take away from Christ manifest itself, not only in the blogosphere, but in all walks of the Christian’s life.
Nice exhortation to the body of Christ. We need to mean what we say and say what we mean, and know the facts and truth. As this blog does.I am grateful for all those who, by the Lord’s grace, ‘blog’ with integrity and humility. It’s a blessing to me, and a fine example in this age. Eph. 5:11
It’s so easy to repeat something about someone. May we learn to not judge as the Lord tells us in Matt. 7:1-5.
It is always sad when hurtful remarks are made on blogs. I pray that all Reformed bloggers will have the wisdom and maturity to know what to post and what not to.
I’ve noticed a lot of this lately, and it has made my blog reading wane over the past few months… Anybody with a blog can turn in to a self appointed whistle-blower, not to mention judge and jury.
It has been interesting to see the cultural shift though. It’s as if those sensational investigative news shows have spawned into this relatively new medium. Only now, there is even less need for journalistic integrity. Not good.
I thought Voddie Baucham made a good point at the DGNC. He spoke about how Secular Humanism attempts to solve the worlds problems. One solution was to provide more education. The other was to provide more government, to which his answer was “Who’s governing the governers?”.
Who will govern these bloggers?
Tim - your encouragment here is spot on. There are a million and one ways to say things we might desire to say, but the real work is diligently persuing a way to say it in a way that builds up, informs, educates and edifies. (Tearing down is easy, and comes naturally to all of us).
I say work because this is not always an easy thing to do, and even when we’ve made extreme efforts to blog in this way, there will still be someone, somewhere that takes issue with what we’ve said.
In any event, excellent commentary on this topic. It’s given me much to consider in my own blogging style.
Thank you for that.
SDG…
In the pre-blogging years, when I started getting into the discussion boards in the late 90’s, I was very distressed at the discussions (actually verbal fights) christians were having. Discussions about predestination, and biblical interpretations started huge arguments and verbal rants between Christians. Granted, I’m not saying christians shouldn’t debate these issues, just that these are public forums and ‘respect’ was not present.
The only thing I could think of at the time, was if I was a non-believer checking out a Christian discussion board, why would I ever want to get into this Christianity thing.
I stopped engaging on those boards, and now the blogging model has somewhat replaced the forum ddbs. However, I do not see the kind of venomous engangement between Christians in blogs as I did with the boards. Of course there are some exceptions, but overall, it’s been good. Perhaps because blogs are people’s personal space and that makes a difference, but I hope and pray that Christians view their input in blogs as something serious.
After all, what we say with our mouth is the same as what we say with our fingers on a keyboard.
vapor
Very Interesting.
Very thought provoking.
I pray we all take these things prayerfully to heart.
Tim:
Just wanted to say that I have nothing but good to say about you, always praise you in all that you do, believe you to be of the finest character, revere you as a role model, think you belong enshrined with such lesser saints of the past such as Calvin or Luther, and - if you were Catholic - would recommend you for canonization.
You’re swell, great, wonderful, fabulous, incredible, loyal, trustworthy, honest, creative, sincere, pure, with fault or blemish, peachy, intelligent, insightful, diligent, and above all more Christlike than I ever thought it possible for any living individual to be.
(Did I miss anything? If so, please feel free to edit this comment with whatever superlatives you might desire - which I am sure will be legion given your inherent genius.)
Your greatest fan,
Mike
Oh, NO! I meant, “without fault or blemish”!!! Please don’t sue me!!!
How much of this would have been avoided if all of us would remember that our words are to give grace to those who hear, according to Ephesians? They are to edify, to meet the other person’s need, and to give grace to them. There seems to be very little grace given in the blogosphere, I’m afraid.
Along the lines of James’s comments, I am reminded of (ta-dah!) James 3 and the sage advice contained therein regarding the use of our tongues. This of course applies just as much to the use of our keyboards. We need to be cognizant of the power of words both to heal and harm. It won’t hurt to remember that we will be held accountable someday for every idle word spoken—or typed.
I think Dr. Mike has done a very good job of displaying what has made reading some Christian blogs so tiring and disappointing.
Tim corrrectly points out that people are willing to take written shots that they would have no stomach to do in person. Overuse of sarcasm and false assumptions have dragged down some Christian blogs to a point where they seem like anything but a collection of Christians. Not only that many people have terrible writing skills and only add to the confusion.
Many of us enjoy a good debate, and I think that blogs are a fine place to do that. And sometimes criticism (even sarcasm) may be appropriate, but as in life, that should be done with care and humility (especially when directed towards other Christians).
When blogs become a place where people or institutions are injured just because someone posted something (whether true or false), no longer are we representing the Christian faith in a healthy way.
So Dr. Mike, you have given a great example. Either you were just poking fun at Tim, or you were using tactless sarcasm to misconstrue what Tim meant in the first place. That’s confusing and not helpful.
Ah yes, and so it begins… You know it only starts this way. A random blogger gets sued or a person with a big mouth (online or not) gets in trouble. But then they start using those cases to come against truth. They start nailing bloggers for using scriptures that are against homosexuality or for speaking against blatent sin.
I for one don’t doubt there will be a day soon that christian bloggers are accused of online hatespeach and such. Blog companies will pull religious blogs from their servers because it is against the law to speak against sin. Bloggers will be watched like a hawk because the laws will be for “tolerance”.
ok, maybe I am being overdramatic but only time will tell. I hope things don’t get that bad. But then again…
z.
S. Zeilinga, I share your concerns, but what about people or groups that are wrongly attacked, and yes, libeled, causing harm to them? It can and does happen.
The idea that blogs should be exempt from this makes no sense. If an individual or group is accused of doing something wrong through a blog, and it harms them, and let’s say the the accuser had their facts wrong (let’s even assume they were right), does that give them the authority to make accusations without directly facing the ones they accuse? (This has nothing to do with Ligonier, I think both sides have explaining to do.)
As for the government shutting down religious blogs for speaking about moral truths clearly defined in Scripture, if it comes to that, then Christians will surely begin to know that true persecution is beginning to set upon our land. Then we shall begin to stand and suffer for our faith, if we are truly of the elect.
Ron:
Or should I call you Officer Ron, leader of the blog police? Do I know you? Do you know me? Do you know my relationship with Tim? I suspect the answer to first question is “yes” and to the last three “no.”
I consider Tim a friend and was having fun. I can only conclude, however, that you consider my lighthearted, good-natured humor to be “confusing and not helpful” since you fail to provide any alternative.
I don’t need to tell you what to do with your charge of tactless sarcasm and misconstruing (I might have suggested misrepresenting since Tim writes with sufficient clarity to make misconstruing unlikely) - at any rate, I don’t need to tell you what to do with such charges, do I?
Well, I suspect I do, so I’ll state it clearly: keep your judgmental and ignorant comments to yourself. If you are quiet, your foolishness will not be known to all.
A simple, “Mike, were you just kidding or being sarcastic?” would have been nice.
“ok, maybe I am being overdramatic but only time will tell. I hope things don’t get that bad. But then again…”
S. Zeilinga, no, your not being overdramatic. Make no bones about it, there will come a day soon that it will be illegal to say on your blog that you hate homosexuality because it is an abomination to a Holy God.
It will be considered “hate speech,” with the pretext that it contributes to violence against homosexuals. And the sad thing is that there will be some Christians who will side with big brother.
Evangelical bloggers (including myself) will be taken and sent to “reeducation” camps. No, I am not jesting. Our freedom of speech will soon be lost.
Very difficult times are ahead for the Church in America.
Great post! Timely.
Very difficult times are ahead for the Church in America.
Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe the church in America needs some discomfort and difficult times. I’m not saying that I necessarily want that to happen, but maybe that is what it will take to wake up the American church.
The American church is about as lukewarm as one can possibly get. A little persecution may be what God uses to facilitate a shakeout within the visible church.
Then again, God may choose to allow the visible church in America to continue in its slow boil…you know…like the frog who doesn’t know he is slowly being boiled to death.
One thing’s for sure…the quickest way to wake up those within the visible church in America is to take away their comfort…take away their security.
Dr. Mike,
I’m actually glad you explained what you meant because I was a little confused, too. I thought you were probably joking around but I wasn’t sure.
I also know what it feels like to have someone make incorrect assumptions about me. In fact, it brings out a lot of sin in my heart when people misjudge me; it’s not a pretty sight. Mike, I don’t know you and I can’t judge your heart, so I hope this doesn’t sound presumptuous. But after reading your second post this morning, I wanted to share with you something that has greatly helped me. In his article “The Cross and Criticism” Alfred J. Poirier writes:”In light of God’s judgment and justification of the sinner in the cross of Christ, we can begin to discover how to deal with any and all criticism. By agreeing with God’s criticism of me in Christ’s cross, I can face any criticism man can lay against me. In other words, no one can criticize me more than the cross has…If you thus know yourself as having been crucified with Christ, then you can respond to any criticism, even mistaken or hostile criticism, without bitterness [or] defensiveness…Such responses typically exacerbate and intensify conflict, and lead to the rupture of relationships. You can learn to hear criticism as constructive and not condemnatory because God has justified you.” (Published in The Journal of Biblical Counseling, vol.17, number 3, Spring 1999).
This quote is very convicting and helpful to me, and I still have a long way to go in learning from it. Maybe it can be a helpful reminder to all of us as we interact with the world of blogs where criticism can fire back and forth so very quickly.
Respectfully,Sarah K
Man! Weird how the comments thread is turning into an ironically apropos illustration for the post. Tim, great post. Although I, of course, want bloggers to enjoy the privileges of free speech, I think it is only proper that bloggers also be held accountable for libel. If it’s prosecutable elsewhere, why should blogging be exempt?
And Dr. Mike, I thought you were funny!
Dr. Mike, I apologize. I should have asked whether you were kidding or not.
My point was it’s very easy for people to read sarcastic blogs/comments and take away an impression that was not the intent. I’ve learned from personal experience that sarcasm needs to be used deftly. I’ve unwisely delivered it many times, and created unintended hurt. As someone who mostly reads Tim’s posts without going to the comments, it was easy to think you were going after Tim. There are plenty of people out there who would do that.
Brian,
I agree with you. I believe that the true church has always flourished in times of persecution. And if we learn from history, we observe that these things happen within a generation, a very short time.
“…judgment to begin with the family of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not obey the gospel of God?”
Indeed, God’s refinement would be a blessing.
Thanks.
Sarah:
I appreciate the tone and gentleness of your rebuke, feeling therein a genuine concern for my own (a) fellowship with God and God’s children, and (b) lack of godliness. You are certainly a peacemaker.
My response to Ron was not meant to be personal - although I can’t imagine him taking it any other way - but rather to be directed at so many others of whom his comment was representative. I do not think blindly shooting from the hip to be a good idea and wanted to (1) abruptly call him on it and (2) disabuse anyone else of the notion that such presumptive attacks are acceptable.
I confess that I wrote what I did with the hope of edifying others, but not Ron. That was wrong. I’ll deal with that in a minute. There is so often a lack of grace in our disagreements with others. If my second comment served as an example of anything, it was an example of lack of grace. But never underestimate the value of a bad example, eh? As the poster says, “Perhaps your sole purpose in life is to serve as a warning to others.”
Ron:
Thank you for your apology: it was certainly more gracious than my response deserved. Please accept my apology for the reasons stated above but also for being too caustic and abrasive in my response. I made assumptions about you - the very thing that had irritated me - that were unwarranted and unfair. I am genuinely sorry for that: I was not only hypocritical but - far more importantly - unloving.
Not that it minimizes or assuages my sin, but I wrote the original comment to Tim and only for Tim. In retrospect, I should have sent him an email and kept it private. I’ll do so in the future to avoid confusion and further manifestations of my pugnacious and sinful spirit.
Peace (suddenly I feel as though I’m channeling Milton Stanley!)
Mike
If only more Christians would respond like Dr. Mike. Apology cheerfully accepted!
As an aside, I realize Tim can defend himself. I didn’t need to defend him for something that had no idea as to if it was offending. Who will deliver me from interfering where I shouldn’t? Praise be to Christ! May He shut my mouth when it wants to runneth over.
Ron:
Thanks again. My problem is not only my tongue (Jas 3) but my fingers as they scamper maliciously across the keyboard! Should I apply Mt 5.30 here?!?
Very challenging post, especially the last sentences.
Time:
Type Canadian libel law into my blogs internal search and you’ll see some cases in Canada - and btw, the actual law.
That list is by no means exhaustive, if you read good media bloggers like Jay Currie you’ll find more.Or look at the Western Standard was willing to do regarding a legal letter and a spoof site.
And if you want some good writing on civility, respectfulness and holiness for blogger conduct try Ceruleum Sanctum.
I am supposedly the first blogger to lose a lawsuit. The loss is because a very dishonest judge allowed a mis-informed Jury to award damages when the judge himself instructed the jury twice that they couldn’t award unless they found malice, which they didn’t in a written verdict. I am a Christian man who simply told the truth but was prevented by the crooked judge in this case from letting my two lawyer witnesses and one past sheriff to speak. I happen to live in the most corrupt county in Georgia.
The case is under appeal and I have an excellent chance of winning because of the crooked judges foul up which in my heart I know was a deliberate effort to shut my truth telling up.
David Milumwww.aboutforsyth.com