“ It begs this question: What IS a tweet anyway? Is it really considered publishing? Is it a conversation between friends in a public forum, like the electronic version of a coffeeshop, where you can gripe privately but have your gripes overheard?”
Twitter Lawsuit: Tenant sued by landlord for tweeting about apartment - Chicago Bar-tender
It most definitely IS publishing something, since you’re putting it on a site the entire world potentially has access to. But it doesn’t need to appear anywhere for it to be published. Merely saying something means it was published, under the law.
The company filed a libel lawsuit instead of a defamation suit. In a defamation suit, the plantiff usually needs to show some harm came from the publication.
In order for it to be libel, then the accusation has to be false and the person doing the publication had to do so with reckless disregard to whether it was true and/or actual malice (that is, intent to harm the reputation).
I’m not a lawyer, but I do know libel/defamation law pretty well.
First: Truth is an absolute defense: if there was a mold problem, they lose.
Second: If she honestly BELIEVED there was one, they could still lose.
Third: Are you a damn idiot Jeffery Michael of Horizon Realty? She made the mold comment in a reply to one of her 20 followers. That means that nearly no one saw it. Until now.
