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Should Online Defamation Be Criminalized?

Susan W. Brenner
University of Dayton - School of Law



Mississippi Law Journal, Vol. 76, 2007

Abstract:     
In 1961 the drafters of the Model Penal Code decided that defamation should not be criminalized, even though libel was a common law crime. They based their decision on two assumptions: One was that defamation does not inflict "harm" of a severity comparable to rape or murder; the other was that while defamation concededly inflicts a lesser "harm," the likelihood of its being inflicted was too slight to justify the imposition of criminal sanctions. This article argues that our increasing use of cyberspace makes the second assumption increasingly problematic, and therefore requires that we revisit the need to criminalize online defamation.

Accepted Paper Series

Date posted: April 26, 2007 ; Last revised: April 26, 2007

Suggested Citation

Brenner, Susan W., Should Online Defamation Be Criminalized?. Mississippi Law Journal, Vol. 76, 2007. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=982418


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Susan W. Brenner (Contact Author)
University of Dayton - School of Law ( email )
300 College Park
Dayton, OH 45469
United States
937-229-2929 (Phone)
937-229-2469 (Fax)
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