Legal Updates

A corporation is also entitled to statutory damages in defamation

July 29, 2021
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A competing company of Magen David Adom - a statutory corporation for emergency services in Israel, published messages in WhatsApp groups and also launched a campaign in which it accused Magen David Adom of killing people by its actions.

The court accepted the defamation lawsuit filed by Magen David Adom. Defamation is something that, objectively, its publication may humiliate, make its target a target for hatred, contempt or ridicule or demeanor due to acts, behavior or traits attributed to such target. The law allows compensation without the need to prove damage and does not distinguish between a corporation and a person, so that a corporation is also entitled to damages for defamation without proof of damage and the fact that the injured party is a corporation will only be taken into account as to the amount of compensation. Here defamation existed, but it is not a private person who is harmed by it, but a statutory body supported by the State, and the harm from the publications was small. Because the publications were a planned action of a company, its managers are also personally liable for defamation.