2015 March 10

King v. Power, 2015 CanLII 11200 (NL SCTD)

The Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court, Trial Division – General Division, dismissed an application by the libel plaintiff for an Order compelling Facebook Inc. and Twitter Inc. to disclose information to identify the anonymous person who created allegedly defamatory postings and messages on two social media accounts. The plaintiffs, who had commenced this lawsuit against a named defendant, needed information from Facebook and Twitter to verify their suspicions. The defendant, on his examination for discovery, denied being the poster, and resisted the application on the basis, inter alia, that the order sought was a fishing application that jeopardizes the privacy interests of non-parties and the public at large; that the defendant should not be “used” in a court application designed to unveil the privacy of a non-party. Curiously, the Court concluded that the order sought by the plaintiff had “no apparent link to the current defamation action against the Defendant” and that “The information is not needed for the proper disposition of the current litigation.” The Court also held that even if there had been some evidence the information was relevant, disclosure could not be automatic where Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms values of privacy and free expression are engaged. “If the Plaintiffs in this present matter had named a John Doe defendant, and claimed damages for defamation against that unknown person, then I would have ordered disclosure of the IP addresses corresponding to the relevant postings. The IP addresses would be relevant to determine the identity of the “John Doe” and the four factors listed in Warman would favour disclosure.“