Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums
On 9/24/21 05:45, Chuck Zmudzinski wrote:
> I was accused in public of wrongdoing on the
> Debian bug tracking system which is hosted
> on a public, Debian website in response to a
> bug report I made.
>
> Since Debian's policy is to keep everything
> on its website public, and I was told every
> message I send regarding Debian must be
> put on Debian's public forums, then how
> can I try and work out a disagreement with
> someone in private emails instead of needing
> to expose the dispute in public with all the
> negativity, slander, and defamation that
> might entail?
>
> I am willing to cooperate with anyone to help
> improve Debian software, but only if they
> agree to not accuse me in public of wrongdoing
> without first discussing the matter with me
> in a private email or other private forum.
>
> I am not interested in suing Debian for what
> happened to me, but I would not be surprised
> if in the U.S. eventually Debian will get sued
> unless it scrubs its website of some of the
> comments people make about each other on
> Debian public forums.
>
As far as the US is concerned, a lawsuit might be filed, but the
Communications Decency Act, Section 230 (47 USC 230) is likely to
protect the Debian Project insofar as it is a provider of an information
service in the form of public forums. Under that section, they may
moderate as the administrators or managers think appropriate, including
removal of items they might think defamatory; but moderation is not
required and they are not held liable as "publishers" of what users post.
Individual users might be sued for allegedly defamatory statements on a
forum. They get no section 230 protection, but the US Constitution's
first amendment and the rather extensive derived jurisprudence protects
a lot of opinionated and arguably rude statements that some might
consider defamatory and that in some countries may be legally actionable
as such.
It is much better, and almost always much more productive, to avoid
personal attacks and maintain polite demeanor in discussions.
Regards,
Tom Dial
> Thoughts?
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