Libel and slander, known broadly as defamation, are untrue statements made to other people which are harmful to someone else’s reputation.

Libel refers to written statements and slander refers to oral statements. Both give rise to legal repercussions.

In Cyprus, defamation is an actionable tort codified in the Civil Wrongs Law, Cap. 148.

Cyberlibel

The rise of internet has led, regrettably, to a huge spike in instances of Cyberlibel.

Cyberlibel is a term used to define a statement that has been forwarded or made public in an online context and which is untrue and damaging to someone else. The usual elements of defamation law apply in instances of Cyberlibel.

Cyberlibel can have catastrophic consequences to the aggrieved party since a defamatory statement made on an internet platform could arguably prompt significant damage due to the ease with which statements made online may be spread.

In short, online anonymous defamation can cause serious harm to a business or person resulting in massive financial losses and permanent reputational injury.

Are the publishers responsible?

In short, yes.

According to section 17(1) of Civil Wrongs Law (Cap. 148), defamation consists of the publication by any person and by any means any matter which (inter alia) naturally tends to injure or prejudice the reputation of any other person or is likely to expose any other person to general hatred, contempt or ridicule.

In addition, a person is not less answerable for a defamatory statement by reason only that he / she makes it by way of repetition or hearsay.

Jurisdiction

In Shevill and others v Presse Alliance SA, case C-68/93 EU:C:1995:61, the ECJ had held that harm arises from defamation wherever the publication is distributed and the claimant’s reputation is damaged.

The Shevill case was decided in the pre-internet era. In the more recent Bolagsupplysningen OÜ and another v Svensk Handel AB, Case C-194/16 EU:C:2017:766, 17 October 2017, the CJEU followed once more a pragmatic approach by clarifying that the claimant can choose to sue for damages for the entirety of the claim, and for a take-down injunction, in the courts of the member state where it has its centre of interests (i.e. where the harm occurred) or where the defendant is domiciled.

How can you fight it?

If the publisher of the defamatory statement does not respond to your calls to cease the defamation, then you may seek the redress of the Courts.

Specifically, by filing a libel action seeking damages, you may also seek a prohibitory injunction forcing the publisher to immediately cease the defamation.

Depending on the urgency of the situation and on the consequences caused by the defamation, such a prohibitory order can be obtained ex-parte (in other words, within a matter of few days).

Once the injunction is served, the recipient must comply or face the possibility of being held liable in contempt of Court.

Defences

In an action for defamation the defendant may have various defences at his / her disposal. For instance:

• The matter of which complaint was made was true
• The matter of which complain was made was a fair comment on some matter of public interest
• The publication of the defamatory matter was privileged
• The defamation was unintentional.

Our Services

Our dedicated and experienced team can provide the following services (non-exclusive list):

• General advice on aspects of Cyprus defamation law
• Drafting cease and desist letters addressed to the wrongdoer and to the platform operator
• Representing clients before the competent Courts in defamation actions
• Obtaining urgent prohibitory injunctions to immediately stop the defamation
• Obtaining disclosure orders addressed to the platform operator in case the wrongdoer is anonymous.