The Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce is bringing a lawsuit against a commenter they say posted false and misleading information about them on a discussion forum hosted by Sun News’ website.
"I couldn't speak for the person whom ever made it,” said Attorney Franklin Daniels representing the chamber,” but I think that who ever did then I'm sure they had some intention of why they did in certain hopes of what they would achieve."
The commenter goes by the screen name “Elmer Fudd” who posted last month that the chamber was raided by law enforcement and that even several computers were seized.
Daniels said several concerned callers contacted the chamber last week after reading the posts, making the organization file a lawsuit to dispel the rumors.
“Reputationally that has hurt them,” explained Daniels, “the chamber of commerce isn't in the business of being raided by the sheriff's office or anyone else and so obviously that is not good for their business."
Daniels said that because the commenter has not been identified, the firm is filing a “John Doe” lawsuit.
“If you look around the country “John Doe” lawsuits have become more and more popular with the internet and it’s growth and blog sites,” said Daniels, “in this case you have a defamation lawsuit that is libel because it was published over the internet and it was false an caused damages to the other party.”
Daniels says the person known online as “Elmer Fudd” is out of luck when it comes to protection by the constitution’s First Amendment right; the freedom of speech.
“The first amendment protects you for opinions but it doesn't protect you for facts, you have a factual misstatement that it is false and that it is known to be false," Daniels said.
Daniels said that the Sun News is not involved in the lawsuit but they do plan to subpoena them in order to track down the commenter.
The Sun News told News 13 if that happens then they will send the legal documents to their lawyers to handle any actions taken by the chamber.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement