What is defamation?
In making comments about other people or their work on this site you must avoid defamation.
Sally Bercow’s tweet about Lord McAlpine is a good example. It said: “Why is Lord McAlpine trending? *Innocent face*”. That was defamation because: “ … words are defamatory of a claimant if (1) they refer to that claimant and (2) they substantially affect in an adverse manner the attitude of other people towards the claimant, or have a tendency so to do.”
Don’t repeat defamatory statements
Someone who repeats a defamatory allegation made by another is treated as if he had made the allegation himself, even if he attempts to distance himself from the allegation.