Defamatory social media posts could cost you, legal expert warns
The potential consequences of taking to social media to vent about a person or company have been highlighted in the courts again.
Ballito-based events organiser, Heidi Garbade secured a high court order against Tasmyn-Jain van Niekerk, a one-time marketer.
Van Niekerk had been slamming Garbade and her company on Facebook.
She was also slapped with the legal costs of Garbade’s application against her which took two years to finalise.
Attorney Megan Harrington-Johnson says people need to be careful about what they say on social media because as soon as you click ‘post’ it’s considered published content.
"Even if one other person has seen it - it can be taken to court around ruining someone's reputation. So that amounts to defamation. Defamation can only be justified in very limited circumstances. Most specifically when it's in the public interest and can be proven to be 100% true and correct," she said.
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Harrington-Johnson doesn’t believe slamming someone’s services constitutes public interest.
She feels this would only be true if certain types of service or behaviour placed the public in danger.
Harrington-Johnson says someone who wants to address a problem should rather speak to a lawyer.