2024 December 12

Melanson v. Sellars, 2024 NBKB 223

The New Brunswick Court of King’s Bench ordered the defendant to pay to the plaintiff $30,000 general damages and $25,000 aggravated and punitive damages for defamation relating to: (a) a defamatory post on a community Facebook page; (b) a defamatory private Facebook message to the manager of that Facebook page; (c) spray-painted messages on the street in front of the plaintiff’s driveway; (d) a note handed to a customer; and (d) various other oral statements. The Court noted: “While the post was deleted relatively quickly, it had already been shared at least four times by other Facebook users. This makes it virtually impossible to determine the full extent of its dissemination, particularly given the viral nature of social media.”