The Scottish Government has launched a review of defamation law amid growing concerns the rich and powerful are threatening free speech.
The move follows a lengthy campaign, backed by this newspaper. and is designed to bring legislation in to line with the digital age.
Journalists for years have warned of a “chilling effect” on investigative reporting because of the costs of dealing with claims of defamation, even if these are unfounded.
Freedom of expression group Scottish PEN, this newspaper and others have argued that Scotland should follow reforms already carried out in libel laws in England and Wales.
The new new review comes after the Scottish Law Commission made 49 recommendations to modernise and simplify legislation.
Ministers have now formally launched a consultation on various issues raised through the Scottish Law Commission’s report, including a three-year time limit of defamation claims, a threshold of “serious harm” and potential action against unjustified legal threats of defamation.
There have been concerns expressed that the threat of legal action has been used to prevent publication of stories.
One of the options in the consultation is that publishers would be allowed to challenge such threats in the courts.
The rise of Twitter, Facebook, TripAdvisor and other social media mean more and more people are effectively publishing their views, but without realising they could fall foul of unreformed defamation laws
Launching the consultation, Community Safety Minister Ash Denham said: “Defamation law potentially affects everyone and it is crucial that we ensure the law is fit for modern Scotland.
“The enormous growth in the use of social media presents new challenges and means that defamatory communication is becoming increasingly instant and common.
“It is crucial that we strike the right balance between the two values that often pull in opposing directions - freedom of expression and the protection of an individual’s reputation.
“Consultation is an essential part of the process and members of the public have an important part to play in reforming the law on defamation and ensuring it is fit for the future.”
The public consultation will run until April 5.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here