internet liability defamation malaysia
How can I protect myself of building a university review website
<p>Suppose that a developer builds a website  that let students write reviews of their university.</p>
<p>It seems possible that such a site might get lawsuits from the universities if there are some negative reviews on the website.</p>
<p>So, is there any way for such a site to minimize the probability of such suits? If the site includes a provision in its terms of use that indicates that the users are responsible for the review they write, is that useful?</p>

<p>There are some things you can do to reduce your risk, but nothing will absolutely protect you. A person who makes a defamatory statement is liable and can be prosecuted under Malaysian law. A publisher may be could to be also liable for publishing a defamatory statement. Therefore, you need to guarantee that your web site does not ever include any defamatory statements (that's hard to do).</p>
<p><a href="https://pdf.sciencedirectassets.com/277811/1-s2.0-S1877042814X00522/1-s2.0-S1877042814057188/main.pdf?X-Amz-Security-Token=IQoJb3JpZ2luX2VjEIX%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FwEaCXVzLWVhc3QtMSJHMEUCIA%2FFmjP%2Ba8iYsXvyxwUFwYHQONzhsZ3%2FVEKDu4%2B3hAUpAiEA4z9uUWl6oSDFeZnimTcvFXM06r0hlk1c18Rf%2FresZ2MqgwQIrv%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2F%2FARAEGgwwNTkwMDM1NDY4NjUiDGDypXWg9djohd98ISrXAwPAYvZuFUc61uV5XVpxbJxYH4iYRxPP86JBT94Ontg3O%2B5VCyRnjWIDLrizAHLpf9sj%2FmdXNbgDWltdfZLJ8k5sTdhx3gT3EguHvHCWFsdFqVhnD0YVdV%2F9lao3ItVY3XBV1QJbwtgwicGwZzP4JtUMYREIzkXcsfqS0JlnMETN8P9AwZ2DbUJoufjCeEs2SzbOLitQXswD6MI7Td57mFvJ7UF8%2BYHAdFngfpDD4qLHamnRGangsBs%2BmeU54gBnaLIHH%2Bd4T9A8Asd2a9KVjIMPC3evZdBLrcemRKFsdyYTzbZe0zm%2FaMfbJXMN8Q1hdIHK%2FYJ7L3HBwWOCXLE6BIYdtKWHi1vMWOHO2CwdPASGpBODz2d%2B1NOU1seoAM55RqQ5HH5Zy8qqOTG956gdlB9exikesnC6R6oX%2Fe3rElM4oRbhQ%2Fii8qR9MtqxkR70Wfe%2BxcUFQ7Oqd0Wp5KJKjTDPSUnPo5Spy0RKFjIEUthLTc80uz5SS4oKDpOdiJDuqy1mJsdCaMAW011SRaOObeHAbMTOevgvdiJSNgg0UU82Y43ImGO58HabGHHRfU9cXuKjJ9xUyhhiRoO0XxJOEpuqtm8yYPiJzF%2Fsu%2ByiFeWi7ckUIuPV3jCfjPuIBjqlAevZSmkhvfYbAek9sma0VIgNzgvgQeFa%2FaUOhOvDqk2DAY3yhiRK8R5KHTLOqF9zSrSDQ%2FCYdOi2Fpy0hwRHxSybeO7KrQszMB%2BQ6AdQXP7VEjjCArtcjkQQQEgE81lh1WzEKGGRwnsuiKgcGIqrk95iX7Y3Waz2V%2BspjRJ3b7LQySrTPMoRor2hjfPr7MBqxM0vg4WOWRwOP6RisOpPgGcQUuIMtg%3D%3D&amp;X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&amp;X-Amz-Date=20210819T214503Z&amp;X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&amp;X-Amz-Expires=300&amp;X-Amz-Credential=ASIAQ3PHCVTYXEODJGRH%2F20210819%2Fus-east-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&amp;X-Amz-Signature=0dbfb01a170df38f40faf3d8c19121c3d79874c2a98bfe31e7722d10a7e7eebe&amp;hash=144949652716ae126e42a9c671dbf09ed1527609e9e7197000fee040497e10e7&amp;host=68042c943591013ac2b2430a89b270f6af2c76d8dfd086a07176afe7c76c2c61&amp;pii=S1877042814057188&amp;tid=spdf-d24dca6e-19c5-4515-be89-98d072591f95&amp;sid=76a17c005115b8434d589367c526f5f8ba52gxrqa&amp;type=client" rel="nofollow noreferrer">This article</a> analyzes the problem from the perspective of the Malaysian  Defamation  Act  1957 and the Penal Code. There is a possible defense available t a publisher, that the publication is unintentional if you can show that you did  not  intend  to  publish  the statement, did  not  know  that the  words  might  be  understood  to  be refer to  the  plaintiff, and you had  exercised  all  reasonable  care  in  relation  to  the  publication. The first step therefore is to hire a (Malaysian) lawyer to tell you whether there is any hope of using this defense. Ask about apologies, since the article indicates that &quot;an  apology  may  be  an effective defence although the facts of the case may need to be scrutinized in order to determine the effectiveness of any purported apology by the defendant&quot; (for example, immediately deleting the defamation and apologizing is more likely to be effective than waiting until you get sued).</p>
<p>That law was designed for cases where a publisher would not be a passive conduit for statements of other people, hence would be expected to scrutinize the material that you publish. That is pretty much the opposite of online review sites. There is a compter-specific law, <a href="https://www.mcmc.gov.my/skmmgovmy/media/General/pdf/Act588bi_3.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">The Communications and Multimedia Act 1998</a> which might also apply. As <a href="http://www.ijlgc.com/PDF/IJLGC-2019-14-03-06.pdf" rel="nofollow noreferrer">this (recent) article</a> points out, the Act does not say and the courts have yet to decide whether online publishers can escape liability for unwittingly publishing defamatory material.</p>
