Court Says That Tweeting Someone Is 'F**king Crazy' Is Not Libelous
from the a-fucking-good-ruling dept
There have been a number of libel cases popping up over the past few years where random insults on Twitter are turned into full blown court cases. Tragically, these cases have picked up the "twibel" name -- a neologism that seems silly and pointless. Still, it's good to see that courts appear to (mostly) be recognizing that random insults shouldn't be considered libelous. Venkat Balasubramani has the details of a recent ruling (where both parties represented themselves!), in which a court recognized that saying on Twitter that someone is "fucking crazy" isn't libelous, especially as part of a "heated" online discussion. I won't get into the details of the case, other than that it involves a horse named Munition, but here's the Court's discussion:The tweet cannot be read in isolation, but in the context of the entire discussion. In this case, the tweet was made as part of a heated Internet debate about plaintiff’s responsibility for the disappearance of her horse. Furthermore, it cannot be read literally without regard to the way in which a reasonable person would interpret it.Of course, as Eric Goldman amusingly notes at the end of Venkat's post, "bringing a defamation lawsuit over tweets is almost always fucking crazy," reminding us that it will almost certainly reinforce the association between the phrase and the person who brought the lawsuit, Mara Feld.
The phrase “Mara Feld . . . is fucking crazy,” when viewed in that context, cannot reasonably be understood to state actual facts about plaintiff’s mental state. It was obviously intended as criticism—that is, as opinion—not as a statement of fact. The complaint therefore cannot base a claim of defamation on that statement
Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.
Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.
While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.
–The Techdirt Team
Filed Under: conversations, defamation, libel, tweeting
Reader Comments
Subscribe: RSS
View by: Time | Thread
Well
It could have gone horribly, horribly wrong.
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Well
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Well
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Re: Well
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Re: Well
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re: Well
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Hold your horses!
Semantics: give up pretensions (take the little horse out of the rain)
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Re:
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Mickey Mouse Goes To Court
Mickey: "I didn't say she's insane. I said she's f**king Goofy!"
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
name calling
[ link to this | view in chronology ]
Still searching for Munition
First of all this story suggests the horse was killed which is false. Owen misses the main points. The story of Munition has brought attention to the serious international public safety issue of poisoned food. When Spud Noone brought Munition to the New Holland PA auction he signed paperwork that the horse was drug free for 6 months. However Munition had been treated with Clembuterol, Bute, Banamine, Adequan, and Ulcergaurd. Noone apparently was a regular at New Holland, and appeared with several horses every week.
The other main flaw in Owen’s article is that it glorifies Matt Clarke. People like Crystal Conway and Matt Clarke are directly involved in thoroughbred breeding. They are part of the race track industry; which carelessly generates tons of unwanted horses.
I will do my best to tell the story of Munition in chronology, of course it has been many years. Munition went with Noone, to supposedly be a companion horse. Once it was established that Munition was getting along with his companion horse, we would discuss a price. Noone took a wrong turn and ended up at New Holland. Noone is now deceased and poses no further threat to horse owners.
When Noone did not return my phone calls to confirm that Munition had safely made it to his new home I became concerned. I contacted Clarke and explained what had happened. Clarke found out that Noone had previously swindled 10 horses from an elderly woman. I called the Concord mounted police and they suggested I go to Noone’s property and look for my horse. Clarke said if I found my horse they would come with the trailer. I did not find Munition in Noone’s barn. I filed a police report for Larceny Under False Pretenses. Here was the beginning of a long and ongoing search for Munition. I must thank so many people that have helped me.
Initially Clarke told me the horse went to New Holland and that you cannot get the horse back from these people. I went to the Canadian border to speak with the Canadian vet about the situation. Although I continued to knock at the door…nobody answered. So I went to the American office and they said if I saw a trailer of horses come through I could look for my horse.
I went online and posted the horse was stolen. I went to New Holland and a worker told me the horse was sold by Noone to a man named Chuck Beam. Chuck Beam was at the auction that day so I called the police. The policeman questioned Beam and he said the horse was dead and talk to Christy. I found out Beam works for Brian Moore, who sells horses to slaughter at Petite Nation in Canada. I called Petite Nation, to make them aware of the situation, as well as the USDA equivalent in Canada. I found out that Christy Sheidy and Brian Moore had a business relationship. Apparently when Brain Moore buys horses he has two sets. One intended for slaughter, and one intended for Sheidy. Sheidy cries out the truck is coming, save these horses from the kill pen. Christy and Rick Sheidy have since been busted for running a charity scam. There are endless stories online of the mishaps from their organization Another Chance For Horses (AC4H). Interestingly, on the AC4H Facebook webpage they give Noone’s name and phone number as a shipper they recommend.
Munition was sent to Christy Sheidy, not to slaughter. When Clarke says it was too late, the horse was shipped, he is lying.
I got a call from a man who was a horse shipper that had seen one of my advertisements for Munition. He said that he overheard a conversation between Christy and Rick Sheidy talking on the telephone about my horse. That the horse was at the quarantine barn and had to be moved because the owner was coming down. He advised me to make a fake name and look to see if my horse was advertised on the AC4H webpage. The shipper told Christy Sheidy that he had called me and she was furious. She said there were three thoroughbreds that day and two went to Deborah Jones and the third she would not give any information. Christy Sheidy had also posted on the Alex Brown site that there were three thoroughbreds, then later posted there were only 2.
Jones, a supposed detective, was helping me find Munition at that point. I told her that I made up the name Gina Holt to search on the AC4H website. Jones must have told Conway I used that name. I don’t know the relationship between Deborah Jones and Crystal Conway. I never had any interaction with Conway.
Later Christy Sheidy told Mark O’Brien (my attorney) by email that she had the horse.
Further, I was put in contact with Melissa Tokus from Charlton MA. Noone had told her that her horse was going to a Children’s farm. Her horse ended up at New Holland. She did not go to the police. AC4H targeted the breeder of this horse and it was saved with reward money. Tokus was supposed to be at Noone’s criminal trial but she did not show up.
Mark O’Brien witnessed the entire agreement I had with Noone and the prosecutor did not question attorney O’Brien at the trial.
If Noone had been convicted the authorities may have been able to retrieve my horse from these people.
When I was on the Alex Brown horse rescue page, I was certain that Christy Sheidy had my horse. All these posts were being deleted. I think Alex Brown was protecting Sheidy. I do not know exactly how Brown and Sheidy are connected.
I think Clarke was forced to offer a reward. He went on Alex Brown page and posted he was offering a $1000 reward. Suddenly Deborah Jones concludes that the horse is dead. There was no forthcoming evidence. I think Sheidy and Jones split the reward money and continued about business as usual.
Matt Clarke, Christy Sheidy, and Deborah Jones know where Munition is today. They will say the horse is dead but they are lying. I am still not in a financial position where I could afford to take a horse, and I certainly don’t want to remove Munition from his home. I am curious to know the real story.
When I saw AC4H advertisements on the Net Posse webpage, I removed my listing. However, I have never stopped searching for the truth.
Munition is a 16.3 hand, bay, thoroughbred gelding, lip tattoo number G25782.
Please if you have any information please contact me:
Mara Feld (maraf1224@yahoo.com) or my attorney Mark O’Brien (justice457@gmail.com).
Thank You
[ link to this | view in chronology ]