WHAT can we do to stop a former pupil who is putting damaging things about the school and its staff on a website? Surely, this sort of thing is covered by the law of libel?
Potentially, this may well be a libel but you may have some difficulty, not to mention cost, in taking action on those grounds. It is more important to get rid of it.
The key step is to identify the internet service provider (ISP), which is hosting this website. This may be done through website www.internic.co.uk.
The ISP is not deemed to be responsible for the libel so long as it can plead that it is innocent dissemination, that is, that they did not, and could not, know about it. Once it has been drawn to the provider’s attention, however, that defence vanishes and it will therefore move promptly to remove the offending material or to close the site down.
Archimedes
