Twitter Defamation

Status
Not open for further replies.
goosebump said:
I didn't abuse anyone.
Click to expand...

You admitted in your very first port that you posted something 'mean' publicly. I'm afraid that is abuse, it has received lots of coverage in recent years regarding a few high-profile celebrity suicides where such online abuse has been a factor.
 
You are even contradicting yourself. You started off by saying that your reputation was seriously damaged with your employer. But you then state you were simply told not to engage on twitter with the individual. You then say that your employer admitted they were wrong to even request that. So how on earth was your reputation damaged? 99% of people know what twitter is. It is a cesspool that contains much of the worst of human behaviour. It is not a forum for truth and justice in the majority of cases. Your employer obviously understands that or they would have taken the allegation seriously. You have well known people on twitter being called names, abused, accused of doing things on a daily basis. And they all have bigger and more public reputations than you. Do you think they all rush to the High Court? Just move on with your life. Get off twitter or stop engaging with well known celebrities if you are going to take offense. The person who included your employer on the tweet back to you is not worth even dealing with. Spend thousands for what? An apology from someone you don't know for something that no-one apart from you has taken seriously. IF you have that much money to spend, there are plenty of charities including many dealing with online bullying that would be a lot more grateful for the money rather than a highly paid barrister fighting a nonsense case between two grown adults.
 
Why did you say something mean about the celebrity in the first place?. I truely never understand why people do that. The fact that the celeb did not take it lying down- good for them.

Let's assume you sue, you'll be made look an idiot in court, even if you win (which is far from guaranteed) your reputation will be damaged, your employer will get dragged into it, you run the risk of losing and incurring massive costs and your future career prospects will be negatively affected,

so, is it worth having your name in the papers and running up 6 figure legal bills which you might get back (but only might) because someone told you off?

You've learnt a lesson here, Twitter is not a conversation in the pub with your mates
 
Your behaviour post making the twitter remark in work will probably have impacted your employers view of you more than the initial mean comment. Your employer will of course not explicitly say this but it may impact their decisions in the future when considering your career advancement opportunities. Your employer has already been linked to this story, it is quite obvious that they do not wish for it to be taken any further.

You can of course continue down the legal path that could cost you thousands with no results. Why would you want to spend money getting a solicitor to write a letter. What is ideal outcome from this for you?

Listen to the masses and forget about it and don't post mean comments on social media.
 
OP, you come across as very narcissistic. You did wrong initially, have been called out and publicly shamed, and have taken umbrage. Perhaps look at your own actions first before seeking retribution from others. As others have said, I would also assume your reputation within your company would be at a low point.

Stay off Twitter. I cannot think of one, single positive benefit that it brings to anyone or anything. If it disappeared in the morning, would the world be any worse off??
 
Is this a case of you want to prove to your CEO that you didn't do what was said? As others have pointed out if the CEO thought it had any validity they would have involved HR given the company was specifically mentioned in the dispute.
 

Twitter gives people a public voice, it is just a shame that for the most point what they have to say is not very useful.

If you craft who you follow you can get access to good quality information quickly, however if you just want to use it to berate people it probably is not for you.
 
PaddyBloggit said:
You realy are itching/tickling to see who the celebrity is and what the tweet entailed!
Click to expand...

It's out there on the internet and the OP is dancing around trying to convince everyone that he has a case. Impossible for anyone to agree with the OP without knowing what was said. It's out there for all to see online. Either it's defamation or it's not. Us seeing it isn't going to change the facts, but it would help to formulate an opinion of the situation.
 
I would argue that giving people a public voice through the medium of Twitter is not a positive. Twitter is toxic and it allows so-called keyboard warriors to indulge in their most basest instincts. Not normally having to face the consequences of one's actions has allowed people to be rude, vulgar and downright unpleasant with general impunity.

(Un) fortunately for the OP, they do have to face the consequences of such actions and they don't like it. They might think twice in future, so some lesson might have been learned.
 
Last edited:
Tickle said:
Help me narrow it down
Click to expand...

I think the celebrity is Brendan. I think Brendan got offended because the OP said shorting Tesla was a terrible decision. Brendan responded by finding out that the OP worked for a major car dealership which specialises in monster trucks and accused him of owning a Tesla electric car and let the CEO know. The OP was shocked and disgusted and here we are...……..
 
I seem to be alone in having a certain sympathy for the OP. I use twitter daily and have done since 2012. I have used it for work (via a work account, in the name of the business) and personally. They are in no way linked. I don't tweet or extremely rarely. I have < 1,000 followers. I follow approximately 3,000 people. I use it because it's interesting and it exposes me to ideas and individuals I would not otherwise meet or hear. I find it equal parts genius and am constantly amazed by the ingenuity and wit of people and hugely frustrating due to the professional outrage, bad faith and trolling.
Despite having never tweeted once on the subject of abortion, I found myself hilariously enough on the 'repeal shield' with many ordinary and extremely high profile people blocking me. People seek out echo chambers and attribute points of view to those on the opposite spectrum of each subject which are entire nonsense and defamatory or 'reaching' in the extreme.
It's not called the 'Hellsite' for nothing. It's entirely normal for people to be called child abuse apologists, nazis, facists and other awful accusations quite over and above the normal 'moron' or 'labour scum' or whatever you're having yourself. Twitter is ineffective on dealing with the huge volume of complaints they receive and are not consistent in the administration of suspensions etc.

All of the above contribute to why I use the site to listen, inform and entertain myself without engaging directly. So if for example, the OP was told they support rape culture, for example, I could absolutely see why they would be upset. If they were incorrectly accused of a specific crime, for example pedophilia, I would have huge sympathy. These online accusations have in real life led to vigilante activity where the wrong person was targeted. Of course I don't know what he/she was accused of but the point remains - people feel like online social media is different but it has real life consequences for people and the audience reach is immense. A resolution is rarely achievable from a fairness point of view. Add into this the very twitter phenomenon of 'Twitter do your thing' where a tweet is screenshotted or shared and people are encouraged to pile on and target the poster via their employer or landlord or whoever to finish them and real, long lasting harm is done without any of the checks and balances which would occur in the real world of allegations.

Of course all of this supposes that the accusation for the OP was a serious one but the principle remains. Twitter, and social media in general is absolutely lawless to all intents and purposes and many, including Caroline Flack have found to their detriment.
 

I'm not asking for an opinion on my case (not that this is stopping anyone from offering it). Why anyone would think I would be looking for complex legal advice on AAM is beyond me.

I have been told by various solicitors that I have a case.

My difficulty arises from not being able to engage legal assistance.
 
JSnowWinterfell said:
Is this a case of you want to prove to your CEO that you didn't do what was said?
Click to expand...

Yes, and the thousands of other people who saw the tweet.

JSnowWinterfell said:
As others have pointed out if the CEO thought it had any validity they would have involved HR given the company was specifically mentioned in the dispute.
Click to expand...

It is possible for someone to have a poor view of you without being able to discipline you.
 

Twitter is not exempt from defamation law.
 
goosebump said:
I asked for advice about contacting solicitors.
Click to expand...

My advice is not to contact anymore solicitors.

Instead you should take a long hard look at your own behavior and how you’ve embarrassed yourself and continue to do so.

Apologise to your employer and blame it on the stress of the Covid-19 crisis. Then you might have some chance of moving back from the “target for marginalisation and managing out” box into the “might have a future here” box.

Honestly, part of me thinks that this thread is a wind-up to lighten everyone’s mood because of Covid-19; I’ve never heard the like of it.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Menu
Log in
Register