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Electronic Miscommunication and the Defamatory Sense

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 July 2014

Jacquelyn Burkell  and
Ian R. Kerr
Jacquelyn Burkell
Affiliation:
Faculty of Information and Media StudiesUniversity of Western Ontario, London (Ontario)Canada N6A3K7, Jburkell@julian.uwo.ca
Ian R. Kerr
Affiliation:
Faculty of LawUniversity of Ottawa, P.O.B. 450, Station A, Ottawa (Ontario), Canada K1N 6N5, Iankerr@uottawa.ca
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Abstract

This article examines the effect that cultural and technological changes have had on interpersonal communication and aims to provide an interdisciplinary explanation for the recent proliferation of defamation in electronic media. The authors argue that the absence of certain extra-linguistic cues and established cultural convention in the electronic environment often results in miscommunication which — if not itself defamatory — gives rise to emotional exchanges between interlocutors in a manner that provokes defamation. The authors begin their analysis with a discussion of defamation law as a recipient-oriented tort, demonstrating the importance of the context of communication in the determination of whether a particular remark carries a defamatory sense. In order to better understand how an online communication is received and understood by its recipients, the authors then investigate three differences between electronic and other media of communications: i) that the technology-mediated and text-bases character of electronic communication makes the process of communication more difficult and the incidence of miscommunication more likely; ii) that the nature of social interaction in the online setting has a tendency to increase hostile communications that might be considered defamatory; iii) that the cultural context and standards of communication that develop in online communities will reduce the significance of these hostile communications. Applying these considerations to the law of defamation, the authors conclude by rejecting the naive point of view that a libel published through the Internet ought to be dealt with in exactly the same way that a libel published in a newspaper is dealt with. The authors end by calling for further empirical research about the content that is produced as a consequence of contextual challenges in electronic communication.

Résumé

Cet article analyse l'effet de changements culturels et technologiques sur la communication personnelle et vise à donner une explication interdisciplinaire de la récente prolifération de cas de diffamation dans les médias électroniques. Les auteurs posent que l'absence de certains signaux extra-linguistiques et de conventions culturelles dans l'environnement électronique mène souvent à une mauvaise communication qui – si elle n'est pas diffamatoire en soi — fait monter l'émotivité des interlocuteurs de manière à provoquer des échanges diffamatoires. Les auteurs discutent d'abord de la législation contre la diffamation en tant que tort orienté vers le destinataire et démontrent l'importance du contexte pour déterminer si le sens d'une remarque particulière est diffamatoire. Pour mieux appréhender comment une communication en ligne est reçue et comprise par ses destinataires, les auteurs abordent trois différences entre médias électroniques et autres: (1) le fait que les communications électroniques sont sous forme de textes et médiatisées par la technologie rend le processus plus difficile et la mauvaise communication plus probable; (2) ce type d'interaction sociale en ligne accroît tendanciellement les communications hostiles sinon diffamatoires; (3) le contexte culturel des communautés en ligne qui développent des standards de communication réduiront la portée des échanges hostiles. Appliquant ces dimensions au droit contre la diffamation, les auteurs concluent en rejetant le point de vue naïf selon lequel on devrait traiter de la même manière un libelle publié sur Internet ou dans un journal. D'autres recherche empiriques seront nécessaires sur le contenu produit face au défi contextuel de la communication électronique.

Type
Research Article
Information
Canadian Journal of Law and Society / La Revue Canadienne Droit et Société , Volume 15 , Issue 1 , April 2000 , pp. 81 - 110
Copyright
Copyright © Canadian Law and Society Association 2000

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References

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