Andy White Anthropology
  • Home
  • Research Interests
    • Complexity Science
    • Prehistoric Social Networks
    • Eastern Woodlands Prehistory
    • Ancient Giants
  • Blog
  • Work in Progress
    • The Kirk Project >
      • Kirk 3D Models list
      • Kirk 3D Models embedded
      • Kirk 2D images >
        • Indiana
        • Kentucky
        • Michigan
        • Ontario
      • Kirk Project Datasets
    • Computational Modeling >
      • FN3D_V3
    • Radiocarbon Compilation
    • Fake Hercules Swords
    • Wild Carolina >
      • Plants >
        • Mosses
        • Ferns
        • Conifers
        • Flowering Plants >
          • Grasses
          • Trees
          • Other Flowering Plants
      • Animals >
        • Birds
        • Mammals
        • Crustaceans
        • Insects
        • Arachnids
        • Millipedes and Centipedes
        • Reptiles and Amphibians
      • Fungi
  • Annotated Publications
    • Journal Articles
    • Technical Reports
    • Doctoral Dissertation
  • Bibliography
  • Data

The Pulitzer Pageant: Special Pre-Christmas Legal Threat Edition

12/17/2015

5 Comments

 
J. Hutton Pulitzer emailed me yesterday afternoon requesting that I "remove all the fake and libelous comments" from this blog post. It wasn't clear to me exactly what he was calling "fake" and "libelous," so I asked for clarification on which comments, specifically, he was referring to.  Eventually he sent me 15 screenshots.  He also sent me a definition of libel and threatened to take legal action if I did not remove the posts he considered libelous.

I think there are several different issues here.  First is what the law says.  The common definition of libel is "a published false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation."  There are several things you have to do to demonstrate libel.  This is what Pulitzer emailed to me:  

  1. The first thing you must prove is that the statement constitutes a false statement of fact. A fact is different than an opinion. A fact can be proven true or false. Opinions are typically not actionable as defamation.
  2. The false statement of fact must harm your reputation. There are many false statements posted across the internet. In order to constitute libel, a statement must not only be false but must harm you or your company’s reputation and cause harm.
  3. The false statement of fact causing harm must be made without adequate due diligence or research into the truthfulness of the statement. Alternatively, plaintiffs often attempt to prove that the false statement of fact was made with full knowledge of its falsity.
  4. If the person who is the subject of the false statement of fact is a celebrity or public official, the plaintiff must also prove “malice.” Malice is proven when the person posting the information on the internet intended to do harm or acted with reckless disregard of the truth in making the statements.

That's pretty standard.  The first one is probably the most important (if it's opinion, it's not libel; if it's true, it's not libel).

The fourth one is also notable, given Pulitzer's status as a celebrity. He claims that my "intentional use of Philyaw shows the act of malice." If that's the case, then these other web pages are also malicious: 

  • Jovan Philyaw or Jovan Pulitzer – Who’s Cats Daddy?
  • Jovan Philyaw CueCat Radio Interview Transcription
  • J. Jovan Philyaw

There's also apparently a Twitter account for Jovan Philyaw that I doubt is actually legitimate. 

Anyway, Pulitzer alleges that some of the comments by his detractors on my blog are, in fact, libelous.  Just for the record, I deleted several derogatory comments aimed at Pulitzer as soon as they were posted (back in November).  After deleting those comments, I stated in the comments section that "I'm going to delete comments that appear to be accusations of potentially criminal or illegal conduct." Those cross the line, and I don't want them on my blog.

I'm going to take Pulitzer's claim seriously and look carefully at the comments that he alleges are "libelous."  I will consider removing them on a case-by-case basis. It's not my intention to create a space where people can state untrue facts - I don't think it's helpful or constructive. But I'm also not going to simply agree that every comment that expresses a negative opinion has got to go. As stated clearly above, opinion cannot be libel. So I'll have a close look at the comments that Pulitzer has pointed out.

But what if the comments from others on my blog actually do constitute libel?  Am I responsible for that?

My understanding of the law is that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act gives me some protection. Here is what the Electronic Frontier Foundation has to say on the issue:

"Section 230 says that "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider" (47 U.S.C. § 230). In other words, online intermediaries that host or republish speech are protected against a range of laws that might otherwise be used to hold them legally responsible for what others say and do." 

And this:

"CDA 230 also offers its 
legal shield to bloggers who act as intermediaries by hosting comments on their blogs. Under the law, bloggers are not liable for comments left by readers, the work of guest bloggers, tips sent via email, or information received through RSS feeds. This legal protection can still hold even if a blogger is aware of the objectionable content or makes editorial judgments."

That seems pretty clear to me: I may not actually be legally responsible for my reader's comments. That doesn't mean I want untrue statements left in the comments of my blog (I don't). I'll take Pulitzer's contention that some of the comments are libelous and have a look at them. But if they're purely statements of opinion that he just doesn't happen to like, there's no reason they should be deleted.

Finally, there's the issue of the "imposter."  Pullitzer claims that someone was posting comments pretending to be him. I was unaware of that until he brought it to my attention yesterday. He is correct in that there was an exchange between a "Hutton Pulitzer" and "Ron," neither of which provided an email address. I have no way of knowing who was posting those comments, so I took Pulitzer at his word that it wasn't him and deleted the whole exchange.  I think I'll make that a policy: no email address = comment deleted. 

Anyway, I've closed the comments on the post and will consider Pulitzer's contention that some of the comments are libelous. If I agree, I'll remove them. If not, they'll stay. I'll update this post when I've had a chance to sit down and go through the comments carefully.

5 Comments
George Johnston
12/17/2015 07:23:35 am

Scare tactics. Pulitizer would have notified you via an attorney if he thought he had a case...

Reply
Trevor Furlotte
12/17/2015 07:49:20 am

Exactly.

Reply
Joy Steele
12/17/2015 07:25:53 am

I want to sue HIM for libel now after reading this article. He did a phony book review on my work, and he had obviously not even read the book saying things that werent even in the book. Oh and did I mention he was the only poor review....every other one was five star and by official book critics and newspapers. Thanks, I will talk to my lawyer, glad Hutton brought this up. I guess I am too much competitor for him.

Reply
Trevor
12/17/2015 07:50:12 am

Until you do Joy, or others do he will keep that BS up.

Reply
Gina
12/17/2015 08:56:31 am

Unbelievable, this guy never quits. He posts nasty pictures on his web page concerning people we know, I wont name them, and he is not libel for that? defamation of character? I think he's been getting away with his BS for way to long.

Reply



Leave a Reply.


    All views expressed in my blog posts are my own. The views of those that comment are their own. That's how it works.

    I reserve the right to take down comments that I deem to be defamatory or harassing. 

    Andy White

    Follow me on Twitter: @Andrew_A_White

    Email me: andy.white.zpm@gmail.com

    Enter your email address:

    Delivered by FeedBurner


    Picture

    Sick of the woo?  Want to help keep honest and open dialogue about pseudo-archaeology on the internet? Please consider contributing to Woo War Two.
    Picture

    Follow updates on posts related to giants on the Modern Mythology of Giants page on Facebook.

    Archives

    January 2023
    January 2022
    November 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    March 2021
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014

    Categories

    All
    3D Models
    AAA
    Adena
    Afrocentrism
    Agent Based Modeling
    Agent-based Modeling
    Aircraft
    Alabama
    Aliens
    Ancient Artifact Preservation Society
    Androgynous Fish Gods
    ANTH 227
    ANTH 291
    ANTH 322
    Anthropology History
    Anunnaki
    Appalachia
    Archaeology
    Ardipithecus
    Art
    Atlantis
    Australia
    Australopithecines
    Aviation History
    Bigfoot
    Birds
    Boas
    Book Of Mormon
    Broad River Archaeological Field School
    Bronze Age
    Caribou
    Carolina Bays
    Ceramics
    China
    Clovis
    Complexity
    Copper Culture
    Cotton Mather
    COVID-19
    Creationism
    Croatia
    Crow
    Demography
    Denisovans
    Diffusionism
    DINAA
    Dinosaurs
    Dirt Dance Floor
    Double Rows Of Teeth
    Dragonflies
    Early Archaic
    Early Woodland
    Earthworks
    Eastern Woodlands
    Eastern Woodlands Household Archaeology Data Project
    Education
    Egypt
    Europe
    Evolution
    Ewhadp
    Fake Hercules Swords
    Fetal Head Molding
    Field School
    Film
    Florida
    Forbidden Archaeology
    Forbidden History
    Four Field Anthropology
    Four-field Anthropology
    France
    Genetics
    Genus Homo
    Geology
    Geometry
    Geophysics
    Georgia
    Giants
    Giants Of Olden Times
    Gigantism
    Gigantopithecus
    Graham Hancock
    Grand Valley State
    Great Lakes
    Hollow Earth
    Homo Erectus
    Hunter Gatherers
    Hunter-gatherers
    Illinois
    India
    Indiana
    Indonesia
    Iowa
    Iraq
    Israel
    Jim Vieira
    Jobs
    Kensington Rune Stone
    Kentucky
    Kirk Project
    Late Archaic
    Lemuria
    Lithic Raw Materials
    Lithics
    Lizard Man
    Lomekwi
    Lost Continents
    Mack
    Mammoths
    Mastodons
    Maya
    Megafauna
    Megaliths
    Mesolithic
    Michigan
    Middle Archaic
    Middle Pleistocene
    Middle Woodland
    Midwest
    Minnesota
    Mississippi
    Mississippian
    Missouri
    Modeling
    Morphometric
    Mound Builder Myth
    Mu
    Music
    Nazis
    Neandertals
    Near East
    Nephilim
    Nevada
    New Mexico
    Newspapers
    New York
    North Carolina
    Oahspe
    Oak Island
    Obstetrics
    Ohio
    Ohio Valley
    Oldowan
    Olmec
    Open Data
    Paleoindian
    Paleolithic
    Pilumgate
    Pleistocene
    Pliocene
    Pre Clovis
    Pre-Clovis
    Prehistoric Families
    Pseudo Science
    Pseudo-science
    Radiocarbon
    Reality Check
    Rome
    Russia
    SAA
    Sardinia
    SCIAA
    Science
    Scientific Racism
    Sculpture
    SEAC
    Search For The Lost Giants
    Sexual Dimorphism
    Sitchin
    Social Complexity
    Social Networks
    Solutrean Hypothesis
    South Africa
    South America
    South Carolina
    Southeast
    Stone Holes
    Subsistence
    Swordgate
    Teaching
    Technology
    Teeth
    Television
    Tennessee
    Texas
    Topper
    Travel
    Travel Diaries
    Vaccines
    Washington
    Whatzit
    White Supremacists
    Wisconsin
    Woo War Two
    World War I
    World War II
    Writing
    Younger Dryas

    RSS Feed

    Picture
Proudly powered by Weebly