Defamation on social media ends up in court

A man had filed action against a woman at the Nugegoda District Court on the basis that a defendant woman is defaming the man by way of social media platforms such as Instagram and Facebook.

The plaintiff alleged that the woman has created a forged Instagram account and posted the photos of the defendant and plaintiff, which were then maliciously shared by the defendant among their mutual friends and family members, with the intention of defaming the plaintiff. 

The defendant had also forged a Facebook account in the name of the plaintiff, where she had posted several posts containing sexual innuendos and offensive content, with the sole intention of damaging the man’s reputation and goodwill.

The plaintiff sought an enjoining and an interim order to restrain the defendant from participating or engaging in any defamatory acts, which could harm the reputation and goodwill of the plaintiff. 

The District Court Judge had granted the enjoining order in this regard, with the consent of both parties. 
However, the defendant violated the terms of the said enjoining order, causing immense prejudice to the plaintiff and committing the offence of contempt of court. Furthermore, due to the defendant repeatedly and deliberately failing to appear in court on the due court dates, substituted notices had to be effected to serve the relevant charge sheet. 

Meanwhile, when the case came up before the court yesterday, both parties expressed their willingness for a settlement. 

Accordingly, the parties were agreed before the court to issue a permanent injunction order to restrain the defendant from participating or engaging in any defamatory acts, which could harm the reputation and goodwill of the plaintiff.

The defendant will be liable to pay Rs.50 million to the plaintiff, if the conditions of the settlement are breached.  
Senior Counsel Ian Fernando, with Counsel Ushira Dharmaratne, appeared for the plaintiff. Counsel Eranda S. Wanasinghe appeared for the defendant.