ISPs threaten freedom of expressions

Web site owners and anti-censorship groups have accused some ISPs of gagging the net after three web sites were shut down following fears of libel action.

The ISPs pulled the plug on at least three unrelated sites just days after Demon Internet agreed to pay £200,000 in costs and damages to deflect a libel action brought by Dr Laurence Godfrey who claimed he was defamed on one of Demon's news groups.

Many predicted this case would ignite a debate about freedom of expression on the internet as ISPs may attempt to censor news group content for fear of court action. The recent site closures mean the worst fears of anti-censorship campaigners have been realised.

The repercussions for online journalism are equally serious. One site closed down this month is the gay current affairs magazine Outcast.

Its ISP - NetBenefit - closed the magazine's site after it was approached by the Pink Paper which threatened to sue if libellous material appeared on Outcast's site.

The action taken by the Pink Paper and NetBenefit was therefore intended to prevent Outcast publishing a potentially libellous article.

'In this situation we were guilty until proven innocent,' Outcast Editor Chris Morris told dotJournalism.

'They had no evidence that we were planning to write anything defamatory, otherwise they would have applied for an injunction. Instead they relied on an old trick - frightening off the printer/distributor to try to prevent the article reaching the streets.'

While the printers agreed to go to press NetBenefit closed the site.

Outcast told dotJournalism that the ISP justified its actions by referring directly to the Laurence Godfrey case. Since the closure Outcast have since found an alternative ISP.

According to an investigation by the BBC, the action taken by NetBenefit reflects fears among ISPs generally that they are now targets for those pursuing libel claims.

Other sites closed down this month include a site set up by the former Law Society vice-president Kamlesh Bahl and Campaign Against Censorship of the Internet in Britain (CACIB).

Ironically CACIB claims it was closed down when its ISP received a complaint from Laurence Godfrey.

CABIB's ISP told the campaign that it regretted taking the action but said it could not afford to take the risk of legal action.

'This shows that ISPs desperately need legal immunity from the actions of their customers,' CACIB says on its new-look web site which is now hosted by an ISP based in the US. 'We stand by our comments but the ISP is naturally neither willing nor able to get involved.'

Director of CACIB Malcolm Hutty said: 'We weren't even criticising Mr Godfrey personally, we were simply commenting on the adverse consequences of the outcome of Godfrey vs Demon Internet.'

Meanwhile the editor of Outcast Magazine has told dotJournalism it has launched an appeal with the European Court of Human Rights to give ISPs more protection from litigation.

The furore surrounding net gagging follows widespread concern that online publishers may be vulnerable to legal action from those libelled in online forums, chat rooms and bulletin boards hosted by newspapers. In March the Los Angeles Times closed down all of its online bulletin boards as comments had become too insulting.

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