Legal Updates

Publication about sexual offenses based on testimonies given years after the events may be protected from defamation

December 17, 2024
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The website politicallycorret.co.il published an article that attributed sexually harassing behavior to a former journalist at the Galei Zahal radio toward female soldiers who worked with him, who complained years after the events occurred.

The Court held that the website is protected by the truthful publication defense to defamation. Israeli law defines defamation as something which publication may humiliate a person in the eyes of others or harm his profession. The publisher can be protected under the truthful publication defense if the thing published was true and constitutes a public interest. When a publication concerns a sexual offense, the victim's tendency to talk about the offense after the event has occurred does not necessarily harm its credibility. Here, the phenomenon of sexual harassment is an important social-public phenomenon, with the journalist himself also being a public figure, and publishing an article on the subject without names is may damage its credibility. Regarding the truth of the publication, which was supported by testimonies and documents, the fact that the testimonies were given a long time after the events does not harm its reliability. Therefore, the publication lies under the defense.

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