In the late 2019 decision in
V.M.Y. v S.H.G., Justice Kristjanson of the
Ontario Superior Court of Justice for the first time recognized the
tort of “publicity placing a person in a false light”
in Canadian law. But do we need yet another invasion of privacy
tort?
The case concerned cyberbullying and other online abuse by a man
against his children and their mother and maternal grandparents in
the context of a custody and access dispute. Among other things,
the Court found that on various websites, the man had accused the
mother and grandparents of violently abusing and drugging the
children, and shared videos he had recorded of the children during
court-ordered parenting time. This harassment appears to have been
in breach of pre-existing court orders.
