Blogger Beware

Well it seems we bloggers will have to be more careful with what we publish these days. According to Asher Moses of the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH 19/08/09), model Liksula Cohen is taking legal action against Google to reveal the identity of an anonymous blogger who has published defamatory remarks about her. On Monday US time a ruling was handed down that Ms Cohen could sue the anonymous blogger for defamation and forced Google to reveal the blogger’s identity. This could potentially open the door for other bloggers to be legally held accountable for their work in the future, resulting in people being less inclined to express themselves freely online. Already legal experts are warning that this ruling opens the possibility of anyone who has been the subject of a nasty comment online to sue the person responsible. There are currently many ethical implications surrounding the content of blogs, however as of this time they are self-regulated rather than subject to legal regulations. Personally, I believe the regulation of blogs is just one step away from censorship – if those responsible were to be held legally accountable for their content in the future I feel this would undermine the notion of cyberspace as being a place where citizens of the world can seek refuge and be free to express themselves as they see fit.