LogFAQs > #964565086

Lightning Strikes posted...

Im trying to not make comments as I think there are very bad people pushing both narratives for negative reasons but I will say this: this is not trying again from the UK trial. This is about a different claim. Also the UK trial was against The Sun, while this is against Heard directly. Now, I have no love for Depp and think its likely that he was at some point abusive as well as being abused. With that said The Sun is a poison on society and democracy and it winning anything is no victory regardless of what you think about Depp or whoever else.

For a bit of context the English (not UK as each country has different legal systems) libel laws were changed some years ago under the coalition government to make libel harder to prove so that the burden is on the claimant instead of the defendant in the case. This was intended to protect individuals and journalists from huge companies like in the McLibel case, but also lets the gutter press have an easier time. You win some you lose some I suppose.

I want to add that under current US law, any libel claim by a public figure against any media outlet is effectively impossible because you have to prove that the media outlet had actual malice toward the wronged person (actual knowledge that what they reported was false or reckless disregard for the truth). They can just say they relied on what a source told them.