Now that traditionally print and television-based publications
are being published on the internet, courts are being asked to
apply defamation law to internet publications. The unique
structure of the internet as a medium raises interesting questions
about the application of defamation law. One such question is
whether posting a hyperlink to defamatory material constitutes
defamation. In this context, the law is now clear: the
Supreme Court of Canada has quite emphatically said "no",
a content-neutral hyperlinking to defamatory material, without any
affirmation of the defamatory words, does not constitute
defamation.
Traditionally, "publishing" defamatory words has been
defined as any act that "has the effect of transferring the
defamatory information to a third person". It
would be reasonable to think that hyperlinks serve this function
and therefore constitute an act of "publishing".
However, in Crookes v Newton, the Supreme Court declined to
strictly apply
