{"id":600,"date":"2022-01-27T10:20:31","date_gmt":"2022-01-27T16:20:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/freespeech\/?post_type=faqs&p=600"},"modified":"2022-06-08T15:33:09","modified_gmt":"2022-06-08T20:33:09","slug":"what-is-defamation","status":"publish","type":"faqs","link":"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/freespeech\/faqs\/what-is-defamation\/","title":{"rendered":"What is defamation?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Defamation occurs if you make a false statement of fact about someone else that harms that person\u2019s reputation. Such speech is not protected by the First Amendment and could result in criminal and civil liability. Defamation is limited in multiple respects though.<\/p>\n

If you make a false statement of fact about a public official or a public figure, more First Amendment protection applies to ensure that people are not afraid to talk about public issues. According to\u00a0New York Times v. Sullivan<\/em>\u00a0(1964)<\/a>, defamation against public officials or public figures also requires that the party making the statement used \u201cactual malice,\u201d meaning the false statement was made \u201cwith knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parodies and satire<\/a>\u00a0are protected by the First Amendment (and are not defamatory). Parodies and satire are meant to humorously poke fun at someone or something, not report believable facts.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Defamation occurs if you make a false statement of fact about someone else that harms that person\u2019s reputation. Such speech is not protected by the First Amendment and could result in criminal and civil liability. Defamation is limited in multiple …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1423,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","tags":[],"faq":[],"class_list":["post-600","faqs","type-faqs","status-publish","hentry"],"yoast_head":"\nWhat is defamation? - Free Speech, Rights and Limits<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/freespeech\/faqs\/what-is-defamation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"What is defamation?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Defamation occurs if you make a false statement of fact about someone else that harms that person\u2019s reputation. Such speech is not protected by the First Amendment and could result in criminal and civil liability. 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