canada slander
When is public humiliation and slander illegal?
<p>There is a activist/vigilantly group called <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creep_Catcher" rel="nofollow noreferrer">Creep Catchers</a> who pretend to be underage children selling sex. Then when a pedophile agrees to meet in person, they show up with video cameras, broadcast it live, and basically get the person to admit he's a pedophile. </p>

<p>Recently there was a case where they did this to a disabled man and had initially pretended the girl was of age, but I don't want to discuss morality.</p>

<p>It's my understanding that it's illegal to slander a person on a very public scale and that public humiliation isn't allowed. By the Creep Catchers own description, their job is to publicly humiliate pedophiles using the internet (but I would suspect a lot of the tactics would count as entrapment). When is this sort of activity illegal?</p>

<p>There was another case where they knocked on a door and when the person answered they started aggressively accusing her of being a pedophile and broadcasted it. Whether or not it was true, she denied that she was and said someone else was pretending to be her online. Is this allowed? </p>

<p>In Canada as in the US, <a href="http://www.canlaw.com/caveat/copy%20of%20defamation.htm#.WDYftVyW73g" rel="nofollow noreferrer">truth is a defence</a> against defamation. Additionally, if the plaintiff makes the statement, then the defendant didn't, and the plaintiff would have no basis for pursuing a person who managed to get him to defame himself. If the people were to accuse the person of committing a crime (sex with a minor), then the potential for defamation exists, if that accusation was communicated to a third person (excluding police -- you can accuse a person to the police). In that case, the defendants might attempt to prove that the accusation was true, but I don't know how they would show that. If all they could do is prove that the guy acted kind of pervey but that actually accused him of having sex with a minor, then they would probably be in legal hot water. If they accuse him of doing what he actually did, that is not defamation. There is no law against getting a person to publicly admit to wrong-doing. "Entrapment" is something that only law enforcement can do (and it's illegal).</p>

<p>Since it is not illegal in Canada for a person to offer sex for money (it is illegal to be a customer, though), the youths are not doing anything illegal. In the US, though, that would be illegal, so they too might get in trouble.</p>
