(BBC) Just how much freedom is allowed on the Internet has been tested in a court case in Dominica, in which a former beauty queen contestant has been awarded substantial damages.
In 2001 Marina Marshall, saying she felt violated, argued that she had been defamed in an email message circulated on the internet by three work colleagues.
Although her case was filed some eight years ago it was only heard in June of this year.
In a just published ruling, Justice Anthony Ross ordered the three defendants: Lenisha Augustine, Georgette George and Ann Marie James, to pay Ms Marshall EC$525,000 (appx US$190,000) in damages.
The award is reportedly the largest given to a claimant for defamation in the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court.
It is also the first case in the jurisdiction to find defendants liable for defamation in cyberspace.
Damaging emails
The court heard that the emails sent by the trio carried an attachment of a woman in a sexually explicit pose – Ms Marshall’s profile was superimposed onto the original photograph.
The email carried a caption with a deeply offensive Creole word questioning her morals.
Marina Marshall dropped out of the beauty contest and lost her job because of the publicity surrounding the doctored photographs.
Not the first time
There have been other incidents of people’s reputations being tarnished online.
But it’s not always easy to identify the culprits.
Dominica police were informed in 2007 about material circulating on the internet that targeted a number of well-known women on the island, alleging they had been involved in sexually explicit acts and other immoral behaviour.
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