What would happen to this troll in this situation

[iflywiththestars]

This is a weird to ask I know but here goes anyway...

Let's say a troll makes up a thread about having slept with a famous person and names them, the media picks up on it and the famous person takes legal action, what would happen to the poster would they be in trouble or would they face no consequences.

Just so you know I have no intention of doing this just wondered how far trolling can go on Mumsnet without real life consequences.

Are you just asking for a friend op?

I imagine the celebrity’s team would most not likely want to engage or take action because they wouldn’t want to give any credence to the story. Most people understand that anyone can say any old shit online but doesn’t mean it’s true.

If someone posted something very shocking and libellous though which could drastically impact a celebrity’s reputation though, I wonder if mumsnet would work with their team to share IP info of that poster etc. But I think it would have to be quite severe.

That’s not really trolling but might well be libel if untrue. The celebrity could take legal action and it would be for the other person to prove it was true.

Troll is probably anonymous , how would they be traced!

MNHQ can be held responsible as the publishers of the post. They could be approached and asked to reveal the identity of the poster. Often, MNHQ will then contact the poster and ask if they should pull the content or reveal their identity. I suppose, if the content was held to be damaging during the time it was up, then the offer of retraction wouldn't be enough for the person it was about.

From the Mumsnet privacy policy:

if we are contacted by the police about a possible breach of the law, we may share your personal information with public authorities without your permission.

Tbh, although I have no experience or legal knowledge, I think the “media” would be in FAR worse trouble for running a story from an anonymous source, I doubt they’d even go for the low hanging fruit (the anonymous poster).

And that’s not even getting into laws which can vary from country to country. Someone could post it from Iceland, for example. I have no clue what slander/libel laws Iceland has.

There used to be someone, many moons ago, claimed to be the partner/lover/ex (can't remember which, as once I've filed them into the Creative Writing folder I try and erase them) of someone famous- though she always hinted rather than was explicit. Think she was caught out anyway as being a fibber.

I imagine that the main consequences would be for the media outlet who published it without checking the story’s truth.
After all, MN reaches a relatively small audience, and most people reading MN are aware of trolls, and that you can’t believe everything you read.

When when it comes to newspapers, most of us assume there’s at least an element of truth in a story, even if it’s been exaggerated. So my guess is the stakes are much higher for mainstream media than chat forums.

Doesn't this come down to saying something bad about a person that you know to be untrue?

It's not default bad to sleep with someone. No automatic shame in that.

now, if the liar claimed assault, or that the Sleb watched kiddy porn, or got it on with the dog first -- that would be libelous. Harmful to sleb's reputation.

But if i say Barbara Streisand wears polka dot pants every day -- this is not harmful to her reputation. No shame in polka dot knickers. No grounds to claim damages.

... unless Streisand had declared previously that under no circumstances would she ever wear polka-dot pants, and never had done. Then I'd be calling her a liar. I think a 'reasonable credibility' standard comes into effect, then. Would anyone reasonably believe me as an anon Internet random over Streisand's own word? Could my false claims be remotely truly damaging?

by the way, I know American law better than British, but I suspect same broad principles apply in terms of thresholds to claim damages..

@SeasonalNamechange

Troll is probably anonymous , how would they be traced!

Every single post you make is connected to an IP address. It's like a number ID connected to only your Internet connection. In short with legal action you get asked to hand that over and thus identifying the OP. There are ways that technical people can use to fudge their IP address though.

@SeasonalNamechange

Troll is probably anonymous , how would they be traced!

Nobody is anonymous

@SeasonalNamechange

Troll is probably anonymous , how would they be traced!

Is that a serious question?

@caketiger You don’t have to be technical, you can Google how to do it and do it in a matter of minutes.

[quote SoniaFouler]@caketiger You don’t have to be technical, you can Google how to do it and do it in a matter of minutes.[/quote]
Noted!