{"id":1283,"date":"2016-01-17T14:11:16","date_gmt":"2016-01-17T14:11:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/?page_id=1283"},"modified":"2025-12-27T22:51:29","modified_gmt":"2025-12-27T22:51:29","slug":"intl-libel","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/revolutionsincommunication.com\/law\/intl-libel\/","title":{"rendered":"COMPARING US LIBEL WITH OTHER NATIONS"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n\n
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\"\"<\/a>VINDICATED<\/strong> — Prof. Deborah Lipstadt of Emory University (Atlanta, GA, USA) won a libel case brought against her and Penguin Books<\/a>, by David Irving, a British author. Irving had written that it was impossible for the Nazis to have killed so many people in the Holocaust. This was an historical lie, and \u00a0Lipstadt subjected Irving’s work to serious factual criticism, calling out his bias and Holocaust denial. Irving sued for libel in London and lost in 2000, even though the law at the time put the burden of proof on defendants Lipstadt and Penguin.\u00a0 In 2006, Irving was arrested for Holocaust denial in Austria, where Nazi hate speech is illegal. Lipstadt, to her credit said: “<\/em><\/span>I am not happy when censorship wins, and I don’t believe in winning battles via censorship\u2026 The way of fighting Holocaust deniers is with history and with truth.”\u00a0\u00a0<\/em><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\u00a0Emory University maintains a web site on the trial<\/a>\u00a0and on Holocaust denial. (Photo courtesy Emory University).\u00a0<\/em><\/span><\/div>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Aside from outright prior restraint censorship by the government, lawsuits for defamation (libel) \u00a0are\u00a0among\u00a0of the surest ways to chill media criticism 0f public figures and government officials.<\/p>\n

Here’s what to look for when comparing defamation laws:<\/em><\/p>\n