Top court protects online links from libel claims
Internet users who post hyperlinks to libellous material posted on other websites cannot be sued for repeating the libel, the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled. The Oct. 19 ruling in Crookes v. Newton protects one of the most basic functions of the Internet -- the ability of users to share links to material posted online, even material they have not fully reviewed and they may not agree with. The court recognized that simply posting a link to material that may be libellous is a far cry from publishing or repeating the libel, let alone endorsing what has been said in the linked post.
Read the ruling in Crookes v.Newton, 2011 SCC 47.
Read the Globe and Mail report.
Read CBC senior legal counsel Daniel Henry’s analysis of the ruling.
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