Anonymous Postings Online More Damaging, Canadian Court Rules

Anonymous electronic postings magnify the damage of defamatory comments made online and can lead to higher damages being paid by those who libel others over the Internet, an Alberta judge has found. "Because an e-mail is anonymous, a reader is not readily able to discount comments that are made. There is a greater risk that the defamatory remarks are believed. That aggravates the defamation," Madam Justice Adéle Kent of the Court of Queen's Bench wrote.