2016 September 21

Zall v. Zall, 2016 BCSC 1730

The British Columbia Supreme Court awarded the plaintiff $75,000 general damages and $50,000 aggravated damages against the defendant, his daughter, on an assessment of damages over false allegations made in a GoFundMe post. The Court noted that the “defamatory post was open to potentially millions of people. The post could be shared through Facebook, Twitter and email.” The Court also concluded that business partners who conducted background checks were dissuaded by the post from continuing to deal with the plaintiff. The Court also agreed with the plaintiff’s characterization of GoFundMe as “a website that, by its nature and reach, compounds the damage done more than a personal blog or website.“