Since the Brian Gorrell blog has emerged a couple weeks ago, I tried to steer away from it because of its libelous nature. Obviously, tens of thousands of people are visiting this Australian guy’s blog about his Filipino ex-lover and the $70,000 money the latter owed him that it has gotten him much attention from the press. This evening, we taped the panel discussion at ANC’s Media in Focus discussing the social and legal ramifications of this phenomenon.
Anybody who’s been following his blog knows the scandalous posts and pictures will only attract libel suits. Lawyer’s of the parties involved have made their moves so far, though nothing concrete has been done. Google, the owner of Blogger.com where the BlogSpot blog is being hosted, has been sent a letter of request to take down the blog as well (not sure if it’s a C&D though).
What other bloggers who have been religiously covering this issue is that they might be also accountable about the spread of such libelous acts and can be held liable in Philippine courts. That’s according to Atty. JJ Disini who was also one of the resource speakers of ANC. Even JV Rufino, EIC of Inquirer.net, said he made sure all their articles (9 so far and counting) steer clear of identifying names, linking or publishing URLs.
Here’s what bloggers might be doing that could get them into trouble if they’re covering the issue.
- Publicly mentioning names of people being exposed in the blog.
- Posting pictures of the people being named by Brian Gorrell in his blog.
- Publishing the URL of the blog or linking to the blog.
- Quoting a libelous sentence on the blog or re-publishing/summarizing allegations thereof.
The personalities and families of the people being exposed in the blog are desperate to end this and looks like they’re doing everything they can to stop people from talking about it and they will include bloggers too.
Watch Media in Focus on ANC this Thursday to learn more about this issue. We tried real hard not to name names or mention the blog. The only name we can really talk about in the segment was Brian Gorrell himself.
Updated: To those who are unfamiliar with my previous battles with libel cases in the Philippines, please refer to this, this and this. In fact, I still have another one right now in Civil Court.
Please read them first so you’ll know where I’m coming from and how ridiculous our system is.
[tags]brian gorell, brian gorrell blog blogger[/tags]
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do you know that blogs are becoming a bane for employees and companies na rin in the country? i’ve heard of a bank who recently fired an employee because of his blog. is corporate philippines ready for this?
Lulu: You should just give up and take the energy you spent here and start your own blog….or do you just speak up when there’s another “Desperate Housewives” situation?
Lulu, I write because it creates interest. Some Filipinos want to see a better Philippines. Some (like you) want to defend a tragic legacy, a wasted opportunity. I expect people to be pissed off with my comments, that’s why its called ‘critical thinking’. A great many people dont want to grow, and would rather delude themselves. Your empty reponse is the only negative feedback I have received on this site. Two responses on my website were deleted because they were deficient in relevance or content. You dont need to agree, you just need to formulate an argument. Otherwise you devalue my site http://www.sheldonthinks.com.
sheldon,i think you are enjoying this.You certainly have a way of twisting facts.who is dilusional?you cant even accept the fact that some people are pissed off by what you say on your blog,they leave comment,but you sheldon,because you cant accept the truth,delete comments critical of you.That’s some self esteem you got there!anyway,im wishing you success on your endeavor.Best wishes sheldon.
I cant continue with your little game here.But don’t worry you will still be given a chance to go at length to prove your point.Practice on your talent for persuasion sheldon,you are definitely going to be needing that.