internet libel
Can a private chat conversation about someone be considered defamation?
<p>I recently commented on a Facebook post of a friend and suddenly got messaged by someone who was involved in the post.
This person is in fact part of my social circle, however we are not close, we just share friends.
This person stated that, one of the person's involved in that post, was a "disgusting pedophile"(this was not out of the blue however, we talked about other subjects before that).
I, personally don't know the other person, however when I asked why didn't he go to the police to report, he promptly changed the subject, then, I kept asking on why that person in particular was a pedophile, since this is a concern to me(I have a small sister who could be endangered, since the accused is part of the same social circle), after that, he blocked me.
Afterwards when talking with some friends, I learned that on several occasions he has made the same accusations about that person, to different people.
Later on, I found out that those two actually don't get along and have a very strong hatred for each other due to political views.</p>

<p>I'm not close to the accuser, and I don't know the accused person. He could in fact, be a pedophile, but, given the lack of evidence and the fact that this person keeps spreading those accusations, could those messages he sent me (and to others) be used as proof of defamation?
I'm heavily considering on sending those to the accused, since this feels the right thing to do.</p>

<p>Yes, a statement made to only a single other person can be defamation, at least in the US (you don't mention the jurisdiction that you or the accused person are in, and it may matter).</p>

<p>Only the accused person can normally sue, and that person would need to establish that the statement was made, and that it was false. In most cases actual damage to reputation also needs to be established. However, a few limited categories are considered defamatory <em>per se</em>. these include an accusation that a person is guilty of a serious crime. (The exact line for defamation <em>per se</em> will depend on the jurisdiction.) If a statemant is defamatory <em>per se</em> actual damage need not be proved.</p>

<p>Strictly speaking saying that someone "is a pedophile" only says that that person is sexually attracted to children, but it is usually taken to mean that the person has in fact sexually abused children, which is a crime, and would I am sure be considered defamatory <em>per se</em>. Even so, proof of actual damage to the reputation of the person defamed might be important to the measure of damages to be awarded. often the number of people to whom an accusation is made is relevant to the degree of damage to the reputation, and thus to the damages to be awarded, but the relation is not always 1-to-1. Particularly with a very serious accusation, the damage to reputation could be significant, even if only one or a few people heard the false statement.</p>

<p>By the way, the word is spelled "pedophile" (or paedophile in UK English), it is from two Greek words meaning literally "lover of the young". A now obsolete related term is "pederast", with much the same meaning.</p>
