Suggestion for investments and the threat of libel

Reaper
Forumite Posts: 7,272
Forumite


On the savings and investment board this occurs regularly
* Somebody posts about an investment that looks dodgy
* Regulars say it looks dodgy
* The company lawyers threaten MSE
* MSE takes down the thread
I can fully understand to keep the thread up would involve much staff time on a subject they freely admit they know little about (investments) and there is the risk of libel.
The trouble is these companies know all they have to do is threaten (even when they know they have no case) and MSE will remove anything negative about them, even when it is true.
So my suggestion is to turn this about and make this something MSE campaigns on to protect innocent investors. That you employ somebody who knows about investments and the law to actively manage these threads, and even start new ones.
Huge sums of money are taken from unsophisticated investors who don't realise terms like "guaranteed", "asset backed securities", "100% payment record to date" and "ISA/pension approved" are meaningless in the unregulated investment world.
I can't think of a better use for MSE resources than protecting these people from the sharks.
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It would be good if MSE could build a partnership with someone like Action Fraud as most of the big national investment frauds tend to appear on the MSE Forum before being reported anywhere else. People have lost hundreds of millions of pounds to frauds that become apparent years after we were warning people about them on the forums.
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Mickey666 said:Far simpler and cheaper to just take down anything that looks vaguely contentious.
My suggestion certainly wouldn't be a money earner for MSE, but worthwhile IMO.1 -
I wonder if the big man himself could add this to his list of hobbyhorses. All it would need is a section on the main MSE.
Once he gets up a head of steam he is not one to be put off by a few corporate lawyers.1 -
Instead of taking the whole thread away, why not just remove the company name from the posts? Usually, the posts in these threads are relevant to any number of dodgy companies.
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The law is supposed to serve the people it's sad to see how easily it can be weaponised to serve the malevolent.3
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coyrls said:Instead of taking the whole thread away, why not just remove the company name from the posts? Usually, the posts in these threads are relevant to any number of dodgy companies.Agree.Or, redact occasional characters from the company name, to abate the direct reference whilst leaving some clue to the name being complained about.
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coyrls said:Instead of taking the whole thread away, why not just remove the company name from the posts? Usually, the posts in these threads are relevant to any number of dodgy companies.
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Mickey666 said:Reaper said:Mickey666 said:Far simpler and cheaper to just take down anything that looks vaguely contentious.
My suggestion certainly wouldn't be a money earner for MSE, but worthwhile IMO.
But what would you think of the idea if MSE funded it by requiring an annual subscription for, say, £20 for using this forum?1
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