Defamation

Undervalued

Ppardon said:

Undervalued said:

Ppardon said:

pinkshoes said:

Ppardon said:

It's not about checking Reddit directly, all they need to do is Google my name XXX XXX XXXX and there will be a lot fo information presented on a plate.

Already one person who was also associated with this guy had troubles, this online mob contacted his employer and tried to get him fired.

Tried and succeeded or tried and failed?

It might be an idea just to grow some thick skin over this one. Yes, some untrue stuff has been posted about you which isn't nice, but at the end of the day, it isn't true so just try and shrug it off. If anyone brings it up, then you just say "yup, unfortunately there are some very sad people in this world that have nothing better to do than write rubbish online". 

That's certainly one approach, but also these people have drawn attention to a lot of posts i've made online that i'd rather not have people see. So i'm prepared to do something about it if it doesn't cause me too much grief. I'm thinking of changing my name by deedpoll and removing my first name, which I only use formally anyway.

There are other problems that could arise due to these posts, for example if a company is making a financial decision about me

Maybe but there is an obvious life lesson there!

Someone drawing attention to something you have written is not normally libellous.

If they have posted something about you which is untrue and would make a reasonable person think less favourably of you, then that is potentially actionable.

I am not clear how much of the problem is in each category?

First of all there is no concrete proof that those posts are actually made by me.

I'll give you an example which is similar:

A comment on a forum says that "It's easy to sleep with women, you just need to get a few drinks in them first"

The reddit commentator finds the post, and believes the author is an associate of the celebrity, finds out his real name then writes:

"John Smith, self confessed serial rapist has been writing a how-to-rape guide!!"

But were they?

In any case, given that this would be a civil dispute there doesn't need to be "concrete proof". Issues would be decided on the "balance of probabilities" which is often viewed as 51%. It is not like a criminal case where it has to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

I'm sorry but the way this comes over is that some or all of the problem is that you have posted comments that you now regret. As I said earlier, someone drawing attention to them would not normally be libelling you.

Ppardon

I've already mentioned that I am not interested in taking court action, for me now I want to have these libellous posts taken down, and if I can't do that then a name change seems like the only other to limiting the damage done by these indelible posts, a hassle but better than someone googling my full name and "XXX!!!" coming up in as a first result on Google.

booneruk

I don't know if this will be any use to you:

https://support.google.com/legal/answer/10769224?hl=en

GingerTim

Ppardon said:

Undervalued said:

Ppardon said:

pinkshoes said:

Ppardon said:

It's not about checking Reddit directly, all they need to do is Google my name XXX XXX XXXX and there will be a lot fo information presented on a plate.

Already one person who was also associated with this guy had troubles, this online mob contacted his employer and tried to get him fired.

Tried and succeeded or tried and failed?

It might be an idea just to grow some thick skin over this one. Yes, some untrue stuff has been posted about you which isn't nice, but at the end of the day, it isn't true so just try and shrug it off. If anyone brings it up, then you just say "yup, unfortunately there are some very sad people in this world that have nothing better to do than write rubbish online". 

That's certainly one approach, but also these people have drawn attention to a lot of posts i've made online that i'd rather not have people see. So i'm prepared to do something about it if it doesn't cause me too much grief. I'm thinking of changing my name by deedpoll and removing my first name, which I only use formally anyway.

There are other problems that could arise due to these posts, for example if a company is making a financial decision about me

Maybe but there is an obvious life lesson there!

Someone drawing attention to something you have written is not normally libellous.

If they have posted something about you which is untrue and would make a reasonable person think less favourably of you, then that is potentially actionable.

I am not clear how much of the problem is in each category?

First of all there is no concrete proof that those posts are actually made by me.

I'll give you an example which is similar:

A comment on a forum says that "It's easy to sleep with women, you just need to get a few drinks in them first"

The reddit commentator finds the post, and believes the author is an associate of the celebrity, finds out his real name then writes:

"John Smith, self confessed serial rapist has been writing a how-to-rape guide!!"

These sound a little like weasel words. Were they written by you? Because if you ever brought a defamation action, stating in court that they weren't would, of course, be perjury

Ppardon

GingerTim said:

Ppardon said:

Undervalued said:

Ppardon said:

pinkshoes said:

Ppardon said:

It's not about checking Reddit directly, all they need to do is Google my name XXX XXX XXXX and there will be a lot fo information presented on a plate.

Already one person who was also associated with this guy had troubles, this online mob contacted his employer and tried to get him fired.

Tried and succeeded or tried and failed?

It might be an idea just to grow some thick skin over this one. Yes, some untrue stuff has been posted about you which isn't nice, but at the end of the day, it isn't true so just try and shrug it off. If anyone brings it up, then you just say "yup, unfortunately there are some very sad people in this world that have nothing better to do than write rubbish online". 

That's certainly one approach, but also these people have drawn attention to a lot of posts i've made online that i'd rather not have people see. So i'm prepared to do something about it if it doesn't cause me too much grief. I'm thinking of changing my name by deedpoll and removing my first name, which I only use formally anyway.

There are other problems that could arise due to these posts, for example if a company is making a financial decision about me

Maybe but there is an obvious life lesson there!

Someone drawing attention to something you have written is not normally libellous.

If they have posted something about you which is untrue and would make a reasonable person think less favourably of you, then that is potentially actionable.

I am not clear how much of the problem is in each category?

First of all there is no concrete proof that those posts are actually made by me.

I'll give you an example which is similar:

A comment on a forum says that "It's easy to sleep with women, you just need to get a few drinks in them first"

The reddit commentator finds the post, and believes the author is an associate of the celebrity, finds out his real name then writes:

"John Smith, self confessed serial rapist has been writing a how-to-rape guide!!"

These sound a little like weasel words. Were they written by you? Because if you ever brought a defamation action, stating in court that they weren't would, of course, be perjury

Try reading the thread before you jump in.

I have no intention of taking this to court due to the expenditure that would be involved.

Ppardon

booneruk said:

I don't know if this will be any use to you:

Thanks, I will look into that

Undervalued

Ppardon said:

GingerTim said:

Ppardon said:

Undervalued said:

Ppardon said:

pinkshoes said:

Ppardon said:

It's not about checking Reddit directly, all they need to do is Google my name XXX XXX XXXX and there will be a lot fo information presented on a plate.

Already one person who was also associated with this guy had troubles, this online mob contacted his employer and tried to get him fired.

Tried and succeeded or tried and failed?

It might be an idea just to grow some thick skin over this one. Yes, some untrue stuff has been posted about you which isn't nice, but at the end of the day, it isn't true so just try and shrug it off. If anyone brings it up, then you just say "yup, unfortunately there are some very sad people in this world that have nothing better to do than write rubbish online". 

That's certainly one approach, but also these people have drawn attention to a lot of posts i've made online that i'd rather not have people see. So i'm prepared to do something about it if it doesn't cause me too much grief. I'm thinking of changing my name by deedpoll and removing my first name, which I only use formally anyway.

There are other problems that could arise due to these posts, for example if a company is making a financial decision about me

Maybe but there is an obvious life lesson there!

Someone drawing attention to something you have written is not normally libellous.

If they have posted something about you which is untrue and would make a reasonable person think less favourably of you, then that is potentially actionable.

I am not clear how much of the problem is in each category?

First of all there is no concrete proof that those posts are actually made by me.

I'll give you an example which is similar:

A comment on a forum says that "It's easy to sleep with women, you just need to get a few drinks in them first"

The reddit commentator finds the post, and believes the author is an associate of the celebrity, finds out his real name then writes:

"John Smith, self confessed serial rapist has been writing a how-to-rape guide!!"

These sound a little like weasel words. Were they written by you? Because if you ever brought a defamation action, stating in court that they weren't would, of course, be perjury

Try reading the thread before you jump in.

I have no intention of taking this to court due to the expenditure that would be involved.

Even so, it is still very relevant whether you actually wrote these posts or whether you are being falsely accused or writing them and / or somebody is impersonating you.

Dakta

.

First of all, this is a community contributed forum so if you post a question here people might give you answers or thoughts you don't want to hear. You're free to ignore these if you don't feel it relevant or useful but it's generally how forums work. 
Moving on, even with a unique name I doubt it's going to cause you any harm, if the name is the only identifying mark here. You can google me and you'll find lot's of stuff I haven't done, that other people with the exact full name have (and my name isn't exactly common) and you could do that for most people. A name alone would not be enough, unlike linkedin or facebook where you can see their profile, work history, day to day activities etc and make a reasonable link form supplementary info. Nobody just googling for a name with any level of sense will have conviction that's you from that info alone. 

So if it's just mentioning you by full name I doubt anyone running you through a google would be able to have enough conviction of a link to make any assumptions or judgement.

The internet is full of people spouting crap, spouting stuff in bad taste, and others trying to make peoples lives hell for any reason they feel fit. Anyone doing  a search on you will be aware of the septic tank nature of forums, etc and so I think a thick skin approach is your best bet.

Finally, there is always the lesson that anything on the internet is effectively always on the internet or at least out of your control. I have a relative who shall we say in his naïve youth joined some vary dubious political groups that took a lot of hammering at the time due to their less than inclusive policies and he did a lot of public videos of support. This was a fair few years he's grown up a lot, is at management grade in a very inclusive oriented industry and yes, you will find these videos floating around youtube still if you care to look. These could come back to haunt him if someone had the motivation, and he;d have a tall order to get them down as they've been copied, reuploaded etc - he's no control over it.  Be careful what you post. 

Finally, I also agree whether you wrote the comments has bearing, as even court aside there's a big gulf between someones writing lies about me and I regret what I said how do I cover it

LightFlare

I think that unless you are willing to provide much more actual detail (which I don't think you are) - then people won't be able to offer accurate advice.

I suggest you consult a legal professional

Ppardon

Dakta said:

.

First of all, this is a community contributed forum so if you post a question here people might give you answers or thoughts you don't want to hear. You're free to ignore these if you don't feel it relevant or useful but it's generally how forums work. 
Moving on, even with a unique name I doubt it's going to cause you any harm, if the name is the only identifying mark here. You can google me and you'll find lot's of stuff I haven't done, that other people with the exact full name have (and my name isn't exactly common) and you could do that for most people. A name alone would not be enough, unlike linkedin or facebook where you can see their profile, work history, day to day activities etc and make a reasonable link form supplementary info. Nobody just googling for a name with any level of sense will have conviction that's you from that info alone. 

So if it's just mentioning you by full name I doubt anyone running you through a google would be able to have enough conviction of a link to make any assumptions or judgement.

The internet is full of people spouting crap, spouting stuff in bad taste, and others trying to make peoples lives hell for any reason they feel fit. Anyone doing  a search on you will be aware of the septic tank nature of forums, etc and so I think a thick skin approach is your best bet.

Finally, there is always the lesson that anything on the internet is effectively always on the internet or at least out of your control. I have a relative who shall we say in his naïve youth joined some vary dubious political groups that took a lot of hammering at the time due to their less than inclusive policies and he did a lot of public videos of support. This was a fair few years he's grown up a lot, is at management grade in a very inclusive oriented industry and yes, you will find these videos floating around youtube still if you care to look. These could come back to haunt him if someone had the motivation, and he;d have a tall order to get them down as they've been copied, reuploaded etc - he's no control over it.  Be careful what you post. 

Finally, I also agree whether you wrote the comments has bearing, as even court aside there's a big gulf between someones writing lies about me and I regret what I said how do I cover it

I have a very unique name. There have been a couple of other people in the sphere of myself and this celebrity who have already been doxxed. The particulars of these posts that have been allegedly written by myself, are consistent with myself: age, place of birth, nationality, physical features etc. So anyone who is prepared to delve into these posts a bit will likely be convinced it's me, though that is proof of nothing of course. If I get a new job and my name is on the website for example, and someone digs enough, then that company will surely be getting phone calls about me, just like with one of these other associates.

I was mostly hoping to find others who might had similar problems, or someone who knows how to contact someone at Reddit, because when I have tried to find a contact there I just go round and round in circles. Like I said, with Instagram it has been much easier, I report the posts for defamation and they are taken down.

The posts that have been made about me are clearly libellous, it's the equivalent of a person writing on the internet, that girls "are easy to get into bed when they have had a few drinks" and then suddenly this person is writing many posts saying " Mr X is a self-confessed rapist"....or "If you wanted to make some extra money you could do this..."...."Mr X is a career fraudster and swindler"