Compile and Save Evidence
Save all evidence before it is deleted (Screenshot). Sometimes they might delete the status in a few days because they was advised by another party to delete.
Make a police report
After you have completed saving these proofs, it is better if you can save in the computer because if your phone is lost, at least you have a backup. Make a police report as a cover report.
Take civil action
See a lawyer and get legal advice on whether, your evidence is enough to start an action in court. Usually, we start by sending a Letter of Demand (LOD).
What is a Letter of Demand?
Usually, the victim of defamation who has appointed a lawyer will give you a Letter of Demand stating that you have issued a defamatory statement against him/her on your social media and demanding that you:-
- Make a public apology;
- Delete and/or withdraw the defamatory statement; and
- Pay compensation for injury and/or damage to his/her reputation, within the specified period.
Did you receive a Letter of Demand? What should you do?
QUESTION:
I have received a letter of demand. What should I do?
ANSWER:
If you have received a Letter of Demand from any law firm, do not ignore the letter and hope that the victim will continue to forget the incident that has taken place without any further action. If you ignore the Letter of Demand, the defamation victim has the right to continue the case and file a lawsuit in Court
without you being able to state your position and/or explanation or defence. So don’t ignore the letter of demand that you received.
Case Facts:
Muhammad Syuhaimi bin Hj Abdul Jofli & Anor v Hamirah Izzatie bt Sabarin [2023] 9 MLJ 833
On 24 June 2019, the defendant posted several statements on the defendant’s Twitter account in which the statements were allegedly referring to the plaintiffs. The plaintiffs pleaded that five statements were
made by the defendant and contended that all five statements have defamatory tendencies (collectively, ‘the impugned postings’). As a result, the plaintiffs had filed this claim against the defendant at High Court Kuala Lumpur.
DECISION AND FINDINGS OF THE COURT FOR THIS CASE.
It is trite law that for a plaintiff to succeed in a defamation action, he must prove all three elements of the tort of defamation, namely,:
(a) the plaintiff must show that the statement bears defamatory imputations;
(b) the statement must refer to or reflect upon the plaintiff’s reputation; and
(c) the statement must have been published to a third person by the defendant.
JUDGE’S DECISION FOR THIS CASE
To summarise, this court find that the plaintiffs have proven that the impugned postings are defamatory against them. The defendant has no valid defence in the publication of the impugned postings. Thus, the plaintiffs’ claim is allowed as follows:
(a) A global sum of RM15,000 is to be paid by the defendant to each of the plaintiffs.
(b) A full and unequivocal public apology on terms to be approved by the plaintiffs is to be published on the defendant’s Twitter account and other social networking sites designated by the plaintiffs and accessible to the public.
(c) An injunction to restrain the defendant from further publishing the first defamatory statement, the second defamatory statement, the third defamatory statement, the fourth defamatory statement, and the fifth defamatory statement and/or any such defamatory and/or malicious.
(d) Costs of RM30,000 (subject to allocator) is to be paid by the defendant to the plaintiffs.
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