What is Malice or “Actual Malice”?
Malice is often defined as, “the intent, without justification or excuse, to commit a wrongful act.” It is the conscious, intentional wrongdoing with the intent of doing harm to do the victim. In many civil cases, a finding that a defendant acted with malice will often open the door to liability or increased damages, such as punitive damages. “Actual malice” is a legal term of art that is mainly relevant to defamaton claims. “Actual Malice” is found to be present when a false statement is published with either a) actual knowledge of its falsity or b) reckless disregard for its falsity– a “should have known” standard. One cannot be held liable for publishing untrue statements about public figures (or companies) without being found to have acted with “actual malice”. >>top Question: Can an ISP or the host of the message board or chat room be held liable for defamatory of libelous statements made by others on the message board? Answer: Not in the United States. Under 47 U.S.C. sec. 230(c
