2011 August 3

Manson v. John Doe No. 1, 2011 ONSC 4663

The Ontario Superior Court of Justice ordered the anonymous defendant JD1 to identity himself (or herself) and to provide his address and the names and addresses of the anonymous co-defendants. The Court held that anonymity “should not be uniformly expected or ensured merely because the Internet is used as the defamatory communication tool.” The Court applied the test defined by the Ontario Divisional Court in Warman v Fournier, 2010 ONSC 2126, which must be satisfied for an order compelling an identified defendant (such as a website operator) to provide identity information about anonymous posters. The Court also ordered JD1 to forthwith remove from the Internet the original blog and a mirror blog and prohibited any republication of the words complained of until completion of the trial.