I’m not trying to start a thread that’s going to be closed, but I am curious about what happened. If nothing else, I’d like to avoid doing whatever someone else did.
I saw the notice in Cafe Society about Ulrika Jonsson. I’ll admit until that time I had never heard of her. The notice wasn’t too deep on details but mentioned the possibility of a UK libel suit being filed.
A brief search on Google told me Ms Jonsson is a British television personality who is currently involved in a controversy concerning her allegation that she was raped by a well known man who she will not identify. However, her alleged rapist has supposedly been named on a British television show.
Can I assume this is the topic we are suppose to avoid discussing? Is the concern a lawsuit potentially filed by Ms Jonsson or by the alleged rapist? Is the theoretical basis of that lawsuit the public naming of the alleged rapist or the validity of Ms Jonsson’s claim?
Again, I’d like to say that I’m not trying to “push the envelope” with this post. If I have inadvertantly written something that offends the board administration or places the board at risk, please delete this post.
The problem is that Ms Jonsson refused to name her alleged attacker, but rumours were flying around the media. A newspaper columnist hosting his own show accidentally let the chap’s name slip, and two newspapers (in Edinburgh and London, rather than national papers) published the story. He has refused to comment, the police are encouraging other potential victims to come forward and the threat of libel actions hangs in the air. Most other news outlets in the UK are being very careful about not naming him. The problem is therefore that Jonsson has not accused this person, but he has been “outed” by some elements of the media before any accusation has been proven. This would explain the Reader’s nervousness about his name being mentioned, understandably.
Certainly on yesterday’s Channel 4 News the man’s name was bleeped out and the legal expert they had on the show was very clear that to repeat a libel can constitute libel under whatever law it is ( there’s no such thing as “UK law”, since the Scottish legal system is separate from that of England and Wales).
I’m wrong about the Beeb. But check out the Sunday tabloids… there’s a picture of the alleged person snorting cocaine on the front page of the News of the Screws.