Serious harm in the “echo chamber” and the risks of failing to review continuing publication.
On 28 February 2023 the Court of Appeal handed down judgment in Arron Banks’ appeal against the dismissal of his libel action in respect of a TED Talk and tweet in which Ms Cadwalladr accused him of having lied about a secret relationship that he had with the Russian Government in relation to accepting unlawful funding for electoral campaigns. Both the TED Talk and (to a lesser extent) the tweet were published repeatedly after (respectively) April and July 2019 untilthe trial in February 2022.
By the time of the trial Ms Cadwalladr had abandoned her initial defence of truth. She relied upon the “Publication on matter of public interest” defence in s.4 Defamation Act 2013, on the basis that (1) the allegation was on a matter of public interest (which was not matter of dispute) and (2) she reasonably believed it to be in the public interestto publish that allegation (which was disputed).
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Please click on this link for the full article by William McCormick KC on Arron Banks v Carole Cadwalladr [2023] EWCA Civ 219.