A woman photographed a pizzeria worker without a mask and without gloves during the Covid19 time and uploaded the video to Instagram, where she maintains a profile with over 800,000 followers.
The Court partially accepted the defamation suit filed by the pizzeria employee and held that the publication constituted defamation. Defamation is something which publication may humiliate or make a person a target for hatred. In a publication, which content is true and is published in good faith, this may constitutes a defense against defamation. The defense is conditional on public interest and depends also on the platform where it was distributed and the scope and identity of the target audience. Here, the defense of truth in publication does not apply because although the woman is entitled to the defense provided by law due to the content of the publication, the manner of publication deprives the defense. The woman posted the video on her Instagram account, where a profile with 800,000 followers is maintained by her and thus the exposure is significantly offensive and the defense of truth in publication is negated.