On October 19, 2011, the Supreme Court of Canada issued an
important decision regarding application of the law of defamation
to Internet hyperlinks that lead to defamatory material. In a
traditional context, in order to establish the defendant has
"published" defamatory content, the plaintiff has to
prove that (1) the defendant had, by any act, conveyed
defamatory meaning, and (2) that this meaning had been conveyed to
a third party who had received it. In Crookes v Newton,
2011 SCC 47, the Supreme Court of Canada revised this rule in order
to adjust its application to the Internet, and, more specifically,
to hyperlinks.
The facts of the case are simple. Jon Newton owns and operates a
website. An item he posted on his website contains hyperlinks to
other websites, which, in turn, contain information about Wayne
Crookes. Crookes sued Newton on the basis that the hyperlinks he
created connected to websites which represented a "smear
campaign" against him. Crookes'
