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Defamation and outdated information

  • 03-07-2016 1:40pm
    #1
    Little CuChulainn
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,624 ✭✭✭


    So there's been a bit of an issue on a gaming channel on YouTube and I thought I'd raise it here to see what peoples opinions are. Basically a reviewer made a video on a game about 11 months ago in which they heavily criticised a game. The game maker claims to have fixed all the issues raised and is now demanding the reviewer remove the old video as the information is outdated.

    Now my first thought would be that the information was correct at the time so it is not defamation. But is that enough? Having looked at the original video there seems to be nothing that indicates what version of the game the reviewer is playing. So someone searching for a review for the latest version of the game will still get the old video containing information that us now not correct.

    Now in this particular case the reviewer has labelled their old video to state that the game has been updated and in my own opinion I would think that is enough. But had they refused to do that, would the game maker have had any kind of case?


Comments

  • #2
    coylemj
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,626 ✭✭✭✭coylemj


    I don't think something can become defamatory simply by the passage of time. Older reviews for apps on the Google Play store for example are always flagged 'for a previous version' if the app was updated since the review was posted but no matter how good or bad the review, Google doesn't remove them and videos on YouTube have visible timestamps on them so people can see when they were uploaded.

    The same would apply to reviews on TripAdvisor, it's up to people to use their loafs and concentrate on more recent reviews.


  • #3
    Little CuChulainn
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,624 ✭✭✭Little CuChulainn


    coylemj wrote: »
    I don't think something can become defamatory simply by the passage of time. Older reviews for apps on the Google Play store for example are always flagged 'for a previous version' if the app was updated since the review was posted but no matter how good or bad the review, Google doesn't remove them and videos on YouTube have visible timestamps on them so people can see when they were uploaded.

    But what if that "for a previous version" was not there?


  • #4
    Manach
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 9,769 Mod ✭✭✭✭Manach


    As this is on the internet, not assuming what is the specific jurisdication. In general though writers would have the near absolute defence of truth in the case at hand. If at the time the software was had as many issues as that, then a truthful and accurate reporting of that can neither be held as defamation with the broader issue of a chilling effective this might have on reviewers should that need to revise such sentiments in future.


  • #5
    coylemj
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 25,626 ✭✭✭✭coylemj


    Little CuChulainn wrote: »
    But what if that "for a previous version" was not there?

    It probably wouldn't change the legal situation. TripAdvisor doesn't tell you when a restaurant gets a new chef or a hotel does a major refit so potentially there would be terrible reviews from a year ago sitting below glowing reviews for the new setup. The same would apply to restaurant and hotel reviews on old versions of newspapers which are still available online.

    The test would be the situation that applied when the review was posted and if it could be shown to be an 'honest opinion' when it was posted, there's not much that you can do about it other than to expect people to set little store by it because it's probably now out of date.


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