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Newspaper Ordered to Identify Anonymous Internet Commentators
Internet service providers and companies like Yahoo and Google are no strangers to requests for disclosure of personal information about users alleged to have engaged in wrongdoing over the Internet. A recent decision of the Nova Scotia Supreme Court has extended this trend, as it recently ordered Google and a newspaper called the Coast to provide the identities of people who made anonymous comments posted on a web forum hosted by the Coast.
The application, which was not opposed by the Coast or Google, was brought by two high ranking officials in Halifax’s fire department, who claim that the anonymous comments about them are defamatory. Such applications for discovery before the commencement of a lawsuit used to be a rarity. However, with the increasing number of ways in which individuals can make anonymous comments on the Internet, such applications are being made much more frequently. In ordering disclosure, the Court made reference to a recent Ontario decision where Rogers and Bell were ordered to provide user identities in a similar context.
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