Internet users "have a reasonable expectation of anonymity" that the courts must protect: ruling by a Canadian Superior Court judge

Aurora critics can remain anonymous, judge rules

Tuesday, July 26, 2011
By National Post
 

In a decision with broader implications for online privacy, a judge has ruled not to force the identification of anonymous bloggers who wrote critical web posts about former Aurora mayor Phyllis Morris.

 

The Ontario Superior Court ruling, which Ms. Morris intends to appeal, is a major blow to her $6-million defamation action, which targets three individuals who authored anonymous posts on the Aurora Citizen website, along with the site's moderators.

 

In her decision, Judge Carole Brown weighed Ms. Morris's allegations against the fundamental right to freedom of speech and found the former mayor's case wanting.

 

"The public interest favouring disclosure [of the bloggers' names] clearly does not outweigh the legitimate interests in freedom of expression and the right to privacy of the persons sought to be identified," Judge Brown wrote, noting the three anonymous defendants, who chose to make comments on the site using pseudonyms, had "a reasonable expectation of anonymity."

 

In addition, the judge noted, Ms. Morris failed to set forth the specific words alleged to be defamatory, including only snippets and titles in her statement of claim.

"It is not the role of the court to parse the impugned articles and blogs before it to attempts to determine, by divination or divine inspiration, which statements it should assess in determining whether a prima facie case has been established," Judge Brown wrote in her decision, handed down last week.

 

Ms. Morris says she has reviewed the written decision with her legal team and will launch an appeal, effectively placing the case on hold in the interim.

 

"While we respect the decision of the court, we also respectfully disagree with the finding that we failed to make out a prima facie case of defamation," Ms. Morris said, noting the anonymous comments "went far beyond acceptable political commentary."

 

Along with the three anonymous bloggers, Ms. Morris's lawsuit names Aurora Citizen moderators William Hogg and Elizabeth Bishenden, frequent contributor Richard Johnson and web host wordpress.com. Mr. Hogg, Ms. Bishenden and Mr. Johnson are not the authors of the blog comments in question.

 

Ms. Morris, who lost the mayoralty to Geoff Dawe in a landslide vote last year, argues critical comments on the site made her the subject of "ridicule, hatred and contempt."

 

The defendants, meanwhile, have dismissed the lawsuit as an attempt to quash their political participation in matters of public importance, and hailed the judge's latest ruling as a vindication.

 

"We remain confident that irrespective of any potential appeal, this ruling will be ultimately allowed to stand," Mr. Johnson said Monday.

 

The Canadian Civil Liberties Association, which intervened in Ms. Morris's motion by arguing the anonymous bloggers' identities should be protected, also lauded the outcome.

 

"This is political speech... the kind of speech that we think should be given broad protection in society," said Cara Zwibel, director of the CCLA's fundamental freedoms program. Judge Brown's ruling, she said, "sets what we think is an appropriately high bar for plaintiffs in defamation actions before they can get this kind of information."

motoole@ nationalpost. com twitter.com/ megan_otoole

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

cheeki kea posted a photo
5 hours ago
Burbia posted a video

Strange Videos That Expose Something Massive

#disturbing #video #strange #scary #scaryvideos #strangevideos This is a compilation of the most disturbing videos on the internet, not only...
7 hours ago
Doc Vega posted blog posts
yesterday
Burbia commented on Burbia's video
yesterday
Burbia posted a video

SUPEROLA & THE LOST BURGERS

This Game is RUBBISH !
yesterday
Doc Vega posted a blog post
Saturday
pohonemas33 team commented on tjdavis's photo
Thumbnail

DejaVu

"nice very goodjob, i wish you can visit official situs pohonemas33"
Saturday
Sandy posted a photo
Saturday
Doc Vega posted a blog post
Friday
Saint Quinn favorited Burbia's video
Friday
Doc Vega posted blog posts
Jul 24
Burbia commented on tjdavis's blog post The Jewish Couple That Taught Bob Dylan Hebrew and Introduced Him to Zionism
"Haaretz put this story behind a pay wall. Sali Ariel and Terry Noble were the names of the couple…"
Jul 23
William Heckman is now a member of 12160 Social Network
Jul 23
cheeki kea commented on tjdavis's photo
Jul 23
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's video
Thumbnail

This Woman DESTROYED Harley-Davidson's Future Forever

"It's a sad day on the highway. But I guess the show must go on. Watch out for the ruination of…"
Jul 23
cheeki kea posted a video

This Woman DESTROYED Harley-Davidson's Future Forever

This Woman DESTROYED Harley-Davidson's Future ForeverWelcome to Ride Radar – Your Frontline Source for Motorcycle Deals, Trends & Market Mayhem.Looking for t...
Jul 23
tjdavis posted a photo
Jul 23
Burbia posted a status
"Who knew releasing the MLK files and literally deflecting, it ends up implicating himself with the Epstein Files."
Jul 21
Burbia posted a video

Dan Bilzerian DEMOLISHES MAGA Nutjob Patrick Bet-David on His Own Show

Watch as two powerhouse personalities collide in this no-holds-barred debate on one of the world’s most contentious issues. Patrick Bet-David, known for his ...
Jul 21
Doc Vega's 7 blog posts were featured
Jul 20

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted