The AchieVer Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 Elon Musk is seeking to dismiss a defamation claim by saying that "over-the-top" paedophilia claims he tweeted should not be taken seriously. He is being sued by Vern Unsworth, who aided the rescue of 12 boys from Thailand's Tham Luang caves. The two clashed over how to free the boys in an exchange that led to Tesla's chief calling Mr Unsworth "pedo guy". Mr Musk's lawyers said the "insult" had been made in response to Mr Unsworth's own disparaging remarks. Mr Unsworth is from St Albans, Hertfordshire, but now lives near Chiang Rai in Thailand. Angry response The "vituperative" exchange between Mr Musk and Mr Unsworth took place during frantic attempts to rescue the 12 boys and their coach from deep within the partially flooded caves in July 2018. Mr Unsworth helped recruit experienced UK cave divers, who were instrumental in freeing the boys. Mr Musk mobilised a group of Tesla engineers to help with the rescue effort and left behind a specially designed mini-submarine that he claimed could help transport the children out of the caves. The submarine was never used to free the boys. In an interview on CNN, Mr Unsworth ridiculed the submarine calling it a "PR stunt". Responding in a series of tweets, Mr Musk gave more details about how the submarine might work and posted the "pedo" comment. When quizzed for his response, Mr Unsworth said he was considering legal action. Image copyrightAFP Image captionMr Musk (R) alleged that British diver Mr Unsworth (L) had a "child bride" Soon after, Mr Musk apologised and deleted the offending tweets saying he had acted "in anger". He added: "His actions against me do not justify my actions against him, and for that I apologise." But the row escalated after Mr Musk referenced his initial insult in a separate Twitter exchange. In this, he said it was "strange" that Mr Unsworth had not sued him over the allegation despite being offered free legal advice. Soon after, Mr Unsworth's lawyers posted a series of tweets criticising Mr Musk and his characterisation of their client. Documents prepared by Mr Musk's attorney said he responded to this via "off the record" emails to Buzzfeed journalists seeking comment in which he issued further "insults", some of which alleged Mr Unsworth had a "child bride". Despite being labelled as "off the record", the emails were published and led to the lodging of the defamation claim in a California court. Mr Musk wants the court to throw out the defamation claim because, his lawyers say, his comments were "non-actionable opinion". The legal team said the Tesla chief had never met Mr Unsworth so his comments had no "factual basis". Instead, the words were "over-top-insults not driven by first-hand knowledge". Mr Musk's lawyers argue at length that because the "schoolyard spat" blew up on Twitter, which they say is "infamous for invective and hyperbole", no-one could reasonably believe the comments were truthful. The fact that they were on social media served to underline how different they were from a proper press expose or criminal complaint, the lawyers add. Neither Mr Unsworth nor his own legal team have responded to requests for comment by the BBC. How defamation works in the US Image copyrightGETTY IMAGES By Clive Coleman, BBC legal correspondent The first amendment of the United States Constitution, which protects free speech, makes defamation a challenging legal action to bring. A plaintiff - the person bringing the case - has to prove the statement made about them is false and that it has caused them material harm. However, the toughest hurdle is that if the person bringing the case is regarded as a public figure - and "public figure" is given a pretty wide interpretation - it has to be proved that the defendant acted maliciously. In other words, that the person making the statement knew it to be false and went on to make it. Another way of putting it would be that it must be proved that the defendant knowingly lied with the intention of harming the plaintiff. source Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dMog Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 Judge won't dismiss... all Musk needs to do... say he is sorry.....................................and hand over 12 million dollars...😁 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rickta Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 if the shoe fits Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
luisam Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 On 12/27/2018 at 10:04 AM, The AchieVer said: Mr Musk apologised and deleted the offending tweets saying he had acted "in anger". So, according to Mr. Musk, you can call someone publicly a "pedo guy" with no other consequences, just because you are "Musk"? So, just because he IS MUSK, this stupid reaction will cost him some really nice trouble! Edited: 3 hours ago, steven36 said: Your talking about Musk who stole Tesla from the Founder with a hostile takeover and went to court when sued and bought his way to a victory . But it will cost him a trouble he might have avoided simply THINKING what he was tweeting. GENERALLY tweeting stupid things takes people to stupid trouble, specially if you are someone notorious! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The AchieVer Posted December 28, 2018 Author Share Posted December 28, 2018 7 minutes ago, luisam said: So, just because he IS MUSK, this stupid reaction will cost his some really nice trouble! I agree......... and that has already started showing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 1 hour ago, The AchieVer said: I agree......... and that has already started showing. Your talking about Musk who stole Tesla from the Founder with a hostile takeover and went to court when sued and bought his way to a victory . https://www.wired.com/2009/06/eberhard/ When powerful people in China do this to the USA do this its called stealing insider secrets when Americans do this the person with the best lawyers always win . Elon Musk pleaded the 1st, but it happened on social-media Just the other day A California court finds social-media posts aren’t a First Amendment right but this guy was on social-media probation and broke it. https://qz.com/1507443/a-california-court-finds-social-media-posts-arent-a-first-amendment-right/ if he loses this one it will be another reason to not use main stream social-media i know other sites years ago that ban members for such talk but i never seen it go to court like this. Quote Last year, the US Supreme Court ruled in Packingham v. North Carolina that social-media platforms are the new “public square,” and access to them is protected by the First Amendment So it just depends on the judge and the circumstances . Quote What is defamation, libel and slander? Whether you are the victim of internet defamation or being wrongfully accused of internet defamation, you need to understand the law. In order for a comment, post or article to constitute internet libel, the following elements must typically be met: The first thing you must prove is that the statement constitutes a false statement of fact. A fact is different than an opinion. A fact can be proven true or false. Opinions are typically not actionable as defamation. The false statement of fact must harm your reputation. There are many false statements posted across the internet. In order to constitute libel, a statement must not only be false but must harm you or your company’s reputation and cause harm. The false statement of fact causing harm must be made without adequate due diligence or research into the truthfulness of the statement. Alternatively, plaintiffs often attempt to prove that the false statement of fact was made with full knowledge of its falsity. If the person who is the subject of the false statement of fact is a celebrity or public official, the plaintiff must also prove “malice.” Malice is proven when the person posting the information on the internet intended to do harm or acted with reckless disregard of the truth in making the statements. There is often confusion about the differences between defamation, libel and slander. In many ways, courts treat defamation on the internet similar to off-line defamation. But there are differences which you need to understand when the false statements are made on-line. Defamation: An unprivileged false statement of fact which tends to harm the reputation of a person or company. This is a catch-all term for both libel and slander. Libel: Defamation which is written such as on a web site. Most on-line defamation occurs through libel by posting a web page, comment, bulletin board post, review, rating or blog post. Slander: Defamation that is spoken such as through an transcribed video, podcast or audio file. https://www.traverselegal.com/defamation-libel-slander/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted December 28, 2018 Share Posted December 28, 2018 6 hours ago, luisam said: But it will cost him a trouble he might have avoided simply THINKING what he was tweeting. GENERALLY tweeting stupid things takes people to stupid trouble, specially if you are someone notorious! lmao , people say stupid things on the internet everyday, Twitter should of banned him like they done others who said stupid things.. It more of the sites fault for not having been strict enough on k smack to began with . When i was a admin on a platform if i cached you talking like this i drop the hammer on you because it was against the platform rules and would got us shut down.Twitter is worse than Tumblr was before they removed the porn at lest on Tumblr they updated the rules were you had to sign in to see most of it. Twitter is a free for all for perverts and exposes kids to porn and they not even classified a porn site . Instagram don't allow it and they shouldn't ether, porn should only be allowed on porn sites .Twitter puts a warning up and anyone can click on it and see even not signed in, sex workers use the site to sell videos and other things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrator DKT27 Posted January 1, 2019 Administrator Share Posted January 1, 2019 People at higher posts should think twice before making any comment in public or take any sides. Even for politics, if you see a company for example taking a side, you see them losing the customers from the other side. Be neutral, sensible and respectful and you will see a lot of people respecting you. It's easy to say as it requires changes in one's own behavior. But it's essential as people at top are role models for many and while many might ignore the bad sides of them, it's not right thing to look to be making big mistakes and then trying to get away with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steven36 Posted January 1, 2019 Share Posted January 1, 2019 2 hours ago, DKT27 said: People at higher posts should think twice before making any comment in public or take any sides. Even for politics, if you see a company for example taking a side, you see them losing the customers from the other side. Be neutral, sensible and respectful and you will see a lot of people respecting you. It's easy to say as it requires changes in one's own behavior. But it's essential as people at top are role models for many and while many might ignore the bad sides of them, it's not right thing to look to be making big mistakes and then trying to get away with it. This is why you have just as many people that are famous leaving these sites because they cant stand social media . These are private sites just like this one who have there own set of rules , When famous right wingers said stupid stuff far less offensive than what Musk did . Twitter banned them but i guess because he is Musk he gets a free pass . Even the guy who founded Vice news was banned from YouTube because he said some stupid stuff . The problem is these sites are biased and ban people over there political beliefs witch really is breaking the Constitution of the USA but they let Musk get away with K smack on there platform with not even a warning it shows just how sick this site is! Trump gets on there everyday and insults people and hes even a right winger but because hes the the president he gets a free pass . These sites have sold out and are afraid to ban certain people. Celebrities who've quit social media: Kanye West, Adele, Justin Bieber, more https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/celebrities/celebrities-who-quit-social-media-1.12706108 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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