This website explores the legalities of business defamation and related news. Every week, we post articles and content that help make sense of how slander and libel law work in the United States. We cover everything from doctor defamation to Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
What Is Defamation?
Defamation is a longstanding legal tort that addresses reputational harm. The United States has federal defamation standards, and each state has its own set of defamation laws.
Due to the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, America has the most defendant-friendly defamation laws in the world. To win a case, the claimant (i.e., the individual who feels they’ve been defamed) must prove that:
- The statement in question was about them;
- The defendant made a false statement of fact;
- Harm befell the claimant as a result of the statement; and
- The defendant acted either negligently or purposefully
You may hear people use the words “slander” and “libel” as a substitute for defamation, but there are slight differences between the three words. Defamation is the overarching legal category that includes both slander, spoken defamation, and libel, written defamation.