High Court of Kenya at Nairobi
Document type
Court Decision
Country
The defamatory material for which Nation Media Group (NMG) was found liable consisted partly of comments posted on the NMG’s website by members of the public in response to a news article that Muchemi Wachira had posted on NMG's website. The court found NMG liable for defamation by virtue of its role in publishing the comments on its site and for not exercising control in removing the defamatory comments posted by the public. According to this decision, intermediaries have an obligation to remove allegedly defamatory material, which comes to their notice, either as a result of a complaint by the allegedly defamed person or otherwise. The obligation to remove the infringing material does not depend upon the determination of the court.
There are currently no other known cases that have been brought before the courts on the issue of intermediary liability. However, a few other cases have dealt with direct infringement of online intermediaries and defamation through social networking sites. They are mentioned below as they may contain useful insights.
Country
Year
2013
Topic, claim, or defense
Defamation or Personality Rights
Document type
Court Decision
Issuing entity
Appellate Domestic Court
Type of service provider
Host (Including Social Networks)
Other
Issues addressed
Trigger for OSP obligations
OSP obligation considered
Block or Remove
Type of law
Civil
General effect on immunity
Weakens Immunity
General intermediary liability model
No Safe Harbor or Immunity