B.C. judge awards Australian man $180,000 for Internet defamation

Thu Jul 17, 7:51 PM

By Terri Theodore, The Canadian Press

VANCOUVER - A B.C. Supreme Court judge has awarded an Australian man $180,000 for being the brunt of an Internet tirade conducted by a Nanaimo, B.C., man.

The case involved the thorny question of how to crack down on the lawlessness of online libel and slander.

Justice Douglas Halfyard concluded defamatory statements along with the worldwide exposure of Robert Griffin's identity had serious and adverse effects on Griffin's life and mental health.

In his judgment, Halfyard found Patrick Sullivan responsible for publishing four years of false and defamatory statements accusing "that the plaintiff is a stalker, abuser, harasser, criminal, evil, liar, killer, sexual predator, pervert, pedophile, coward, manipulator and hate monger who threatens others with death and violence ... and deserves to be jailed and killed."

Griffin's lawyer Dan Burnett said most people don't have the money or stamina to fight against those kind of relentless Internet accusations.

"He felt it had to stop and the only way it was going to stop was to do what he did which was commence the action and seek damages and seek an injunction and essentially stand up to the bully."

Burnett said the court award and subsequent injunction stopping Sullivan from writing anything more about his client is a warning to other Internet users.

"It illustrates that there is a line, that when crossed, puts you into court and is a breach of the law."

The whole situation started with postings on the Internet suicide website ASH, in which participants discuss suicide and depression.

Griffin became embroiled in a vicious dispute with several of the members of ASH, including Sullivan.

The situation escalated when Sullivan published personal information, such as Griffin's age, his real name and the fact he lived in Sydney, Australia. Griffin had been using the name Magnus Pym.

"I have found that the defendant was, in many instances, indifferent to the truth of the statements he was making," Halfyard wrote of Sullivan.

"That is malice and that is an aggravating factor."

Included in the $180,000 award is $50,000 for aggravated damages because Halfyard said the facts "demonstrate that the defendant was motivated by an unjustifiable intention to injure the plaintiff."

Griffin has also been awarded $25,000 for breach of his privacy and almost $5,000 for expenses which included psychological treatment and counselling, and payment for interpreting services required to investigate postings on the Internet in Russia.

Sullivan, who acted as his own lawyer, claimed some of the accusations were true, he raised the defence of fair comment and also denied making some of the statements.

Sullivan could not be reached for comment.

Halfyard didn't agree with the arguments.

"The defendant failed to prove that any of his many other defamatory statements about the plaintiff were true. The defence of justification fails."

Burnett said the sweeping injunction is especially significant because it forces Sullivan to stop referring in any way to Griffin and to remove all of his ranting from the Internet.

"That's in an Internet world where we think of things going up and being irretrievable. If you're the person putting it up and you have the means to take it down the court might order you to do that."