Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

7-2012

Abstract

Hyperlinks make the World Wide Web go round. They find and connect information and content from a wealth of sources on the web including, from time to time, defamatory material. Newton, the owner and operator of a website in British Columbia, posted an article entitled “Free Speech in Canada”. The article itself was not alleged to be defamatory of Crookes, a politician. However, it incorporated hyperlinks to other internet websites that contained defamatory material. Notwithstanding requests from Crookes and his lawyer, Newton refused to remove the hyperlinks. Did Newton’s act of hyperlinking to internet websites constitute “publication” of the defamatory material? The Supreme Court of Canada in Crookes v Newton [2011] 3 S.C.R. 269 responded with an emphatic “no”. Though a correct outcome on the facts, there were three distinct judicial approaches emanating from the court that bear scrutiny.

Keywords

Defamation, Publication, Hyperlinks

Discipline

Internet Law

Publication

Law Quarterly Review

Volume

128

First Page

346

Last Page

351

ISSN

0023-933X

Publisher

Sweet and Maxwell

Additional URL

https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2297709

Included in

Internet Law Commons

Share

COinS