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Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums

Cross-posted to 2 groups.

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On 9/24/21 05:45, Chuck Zmudzinski wrote:
> I was accused in public of wrongdoing on the
> Debian bug tracking system which is hosted
> on a public, Debian website in response to a
> bug report I made.
> 
> Since Debian's policy is to keep everything
> on its website public, and I was told every
> message I send regarding Debian must be
> put on Debian's public forums, then how
> can I try and work out a disagreement with
> someone in private emails instead of needing
> to expose the dispute in public with all the
> negativity, slander, and defamation that
> might entail?
> 
> I am willing to cooperate with anyone to help
> improve Debian software, but only if they
> agree to not accuse me in public of wrongdoing
> without first discussing the matter with me
> in a private email or other private forum.
> 
> I am not interested in suing Debian for what
> happened to me, but I would not be surprised
> if in the U.S. eventually Debian will get sued
> unless it scrubs its website of some of the
> comments people make about each other on
> Debian public forums.
> 

As far as the US is concerned, a lawsuit might be filed, but the
Communications Decency Act, Section 230 (47 USC 230) is likely to
protect the Debian Project insofar as it is a provider of an information
service in the form of public forums. Under that section, they may
moderate as the administrators or managers think appropriate, including
removal of items they might think defamatory; but moderation is not
required and they are not held liable as "publishers" of what users post.

Individual users might  be sued for allegedly defamatory statements on a
forum. They get no section 230 protection, but the US Constitution's
first amendment and the rather extensive derived jurisprudence protects
a lot of opinionated and arguably rude statements that some might
consider defamatory and that in some countries may be legally actionable
as such.

It is much better, and almost always much more productive, to avoid
personal attacks and maintain polite demeanor in discussions.

Regards,
Tom Dial

> Thoughts?

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Thread

Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums Chuck Zmudzinski <brchuckz@netscape.net> - 2021-09-24 13:50 +0200
  Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums Andy Smith <andy@strugglers.net> - 2021-09-24 15:30 +0200
  Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums Brad Rogers <brad@fineby.me.uk> - 2021-09-24 16:20 +0200
    Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums Jim Popovitch <jim@k4vqc.com> - 2021-09-24 20:00 +0200
    Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums "Andrew M.A. Cater" <amacater@einval.com> - 2021-09-24 20:00 +0200
      Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums rhkramer@gmail.com - 2021-09-24 21:40 +0200
        Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums piorunz <piorunz@gmx.com> - 2021-09-24 21:50 +0200
        Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums Andy Smith <andy@strugglers.net> - 2021-09-24 23:00 +0200
    Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums Peter Ehlert <pb21a@sdi-baja.com> - 2021-09-24 20:10 +0200
    Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums piorunz <piorunz@gmx.com> - 2021-09-24 21:50 +0200
    Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums Jonathan Dowland <jon+debian-user@dow.land> - 2021-09-24 23:40 +0200
  Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums Jonathan Carter <jcc@debian.org> - 2021-09-24 17:00 +0200
  Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2021-09-24 20:30 +0200
    Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums The Wanderer <wanderer@fastmail.fm> - 2021-09-24 23:40 +0200
      Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums Joe Pfeiffer <pfeiffer@cs.nmsu.edu> - 2021-09-25 04:40 +0200
      Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums rhkramer@gmail.com - 2021-09-25 15:10 +0200
        Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums Andy Smith <andy@strugglers.net> - 2021-09-25 16:10 +0200
          Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums Jeremy Hendricks <jwh1981@gmail.com> - 2021-09-25 19:10 +0200
          Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums rhkramer@gmail.com - 2021-09-26 13:20 +0200
            Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums Chuck Zmudzinski <brchuckz@netscape.net> - 2021-09-26 13:30 +0200
        Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums The Wanderer <wanderer@fastmail.fm> - 2021-09-26 00:40 +0200
          Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums rhkramer@gmail.com - 2021-09-26 01:50 +0200
            Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums rhkramer@gmail.com - 2021-09-26 02:00 +0200
              Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums The Wanderer <wanderer@fastmail.fm> - 2021-09-26 02:10 +0200
              Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums Greg Wooledge <greg@wooledge.org> - 2021-09-26 02:10 +0200
                Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums The Wanderer <wanderer@fastmail.fm> - 2021-09-26 02:20 +0200
                Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums rhkramer@gmail.com - 2021-09-26 13:10 +0200
                Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums Greg Wooledge <greg@wooledge.org> - 2021-09-26 14:50 +0200
                Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums rhkramer@gmail.com - 2021-09-26 15:00 +0200
                Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums Linux-Fan <Ma_Sys.ma@web.de> - 2021-09-26 17:20 +0200
                Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums The Wanderer <wanderer@fastmail.fm> - 2021-09-26 15:00 +0200
                Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums Peter Ehlert <pb21a@sdi-baja.com> - 2021-09-26 15:20 +0200
              Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums Michael Stone <mstone@debian.org> - 2021-09-26 16:40 +0200
    Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums Thomas Hochstein <thh@thh.name> - 2021-09-25 00:00 +0200
  Re: Privacy and defamation of character on Debian public forums Tom Dial <tddial@comcast.net> - 2021-09-25 07:10 +0200

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