Why you need to take care while blogging

Anything goes in a blog, but not if you are in a strategic position or if you are blogging about something controversial. If you are out of your mind while blogging, you might land yourself in trouble. In fact, a number of bloggers have found themselves facing lawsuits concerning defamation after their blogs were not found palatable by certain sections of society or their respective governments.

Defamation law suits

These days, a number of lawsuits are being registered against bloggers. As per certain studies related to blogging conducted in recent times, excess of $17 million had been paid in various defamation lawsuits. It is to be noted that as per the US and European laws related to origin of information, an Internet Service Providers (ISP) cannot be held as party in such lawsuits related to blogging.

While blogging you need to take care about certain points which are discussed here:

• Political fallout: If the primary intent of your blog is to criticize the policies of your government, you ought to tread with caution. There have been a number of cases around the world in which bloggers had to face the fury of their respective national governments. This was highlighted in the year 2007, when a Malaysian newspaper New Straits Times Press sued two bloggers for defaming the newspaper. This lawsuit was supported by the Malaysian government and as a result, registration for bloggers became mandatory there. There have been a number of cases all across the world including those in Myanmar, Sudan, Egypt and Singapore where bloggers were even put behind bars after they wrote such comments against the respective government in these countries. Punishments up to 20 years in prison have been handed out to them.
• Reaction of the employer: Discussion about their policies on public platforms doesn't go too well with most organizations. Most organizations have started issuing guidelines regarding blogging by their employees. If they are found indulging in discussions about their employer's policies, they may have to face consequences. A number of such cases have been reported when the services of employees found doing so were terminated and the matter landed up in court. One popular such case involving a spat between an employer and its employee is that of Delta Air Lines and its flight attendant Ellen Simonetti. Ellen posted here photographs in uniform while on duty. These photographs were accompanied by here comments about her job which were found unpalatable and sacked her. This was followed by an acrimonious lawsuit by her against the airlines.
• Cyber stalking: After blogging about certain sensitive issues, many individuals have complained about cyber stalking and threats. One example in this case is that of Kathy Sierra, author of blog Creating Passionate Users, who had put up some comments which were found outrageous by certain Internet users. They started threatening Kathy who started fearing for her safety to such an extent that she canceled her speech at a conference.

Hence, if you are planning to start your blog for whatever reason, do take care to not annoy anyone beyond a certain limit.