In Sands & Anor v Bond & Ors [2023] NIKB 134, the Court in Northern Ireland ordered that the operator of the notorious gossip forum, Tattle Life, pay a couple £300,000 in libel damages. This has far-reaching consequences and potentially opens the floodgates for similar actions to be brought elsewhere by other influencers/celebrities who have been aggrieved by harmful activity on online forums.
The Rise of Tattle Life
Tattle Life is a self-described “commentary website on public business social media accounts“, reportedly attracting up to 12 million visitors per month. Since 2017, anonymous commentary regarding influencers and celebrities has been posted on the site, at times resulting in scurrilous, disparaging and hateful threads to evolve on the forum. By way of example, certain high-profile female influencers have alleged (among other things) that they were undeservedly reported to social services as a result of untruthful posts on the forum and some anonymous contributors to the site have published details of where their children attend nursery. It is therefore unsurprising that Mr Justice McAlinden provided the following description of Tattle Life in his judgment:
“This is a site which has been set up to facilitate the deliberate infliction of hurt and harm on others. Its very nature is to allow anonymous trashing of people’s reputations and the people facilitating this are making money out of it.”
The Legal Action
Neil and Donna Sands are entrepreneurs who use social media to further their outreach. Mr and Mrs Sands brought defamation and harassment proceedings in 2023 in relation to posts on Tattle Life which “when viewed in their entirety utterly trash the reputations of both the plaintiffs in this case“.
Judgment in default was entered in early September 2023 as a result of the Defendants’ failure to engage with the proceedings. Despite injunctions subsequently being in place, defamatory posts have continued to appear on the site.
Mr and Mrs Sands reportedly instructed a forensic investigation so that the true identity of the operator of the site could be uncovered. As a result of the investigation, an individual named Sebastian Bond has been identified as the supposed founder of the site. His corporate entities, Yuzu Zest Limited and Kumquat Tree Limited, have also reportedly been used to conduct operations of the gossip forum.
In a landmark costs decision, Mr Justice McAlinden awarded Mr and Mrs Sands with £75,000 each by way of general and aggravated damages, and an additional £75,000 each in respect of exemplary damages. The Court also awarded costs on the indemnity basis as a result of the egregious nature of the Defendants’ conduct and actions.
What Now?
Whilst we must reiterate that these proceedings were initiated in the Courts of Northern Ireland, we consider it highly likely that proceedings of a similar nature may increasingly be explored against sites such as Tattle Life, and even brought, in other territories as a result of this pivotal judgment and costs award. In particular, now that we have more certainty over the identities of the operators of Tattle Life, influencers/celebrities who have suffered reputational damage as a result of the forum’s contents may feel more inclined to contemplate legal action.
For any individuals that are unsure of whether to seek advice on this issue, we recommend that you monitor for any reputationally damaging posts on forums of this nature and reach out to us at the earliest opportunity in the event any threats to your public profile arise.
Additionally, individuals with anonymous profiles on websites such as Tattle Life should (in the regrettable event they are not already doing so) exercise caution when posting about others online going forwards. This case shows that it is possible, through sophisticated forensic investigations, for the perpetrators of hateful abuse and harassment online to be identified and potentially sued.
If you would like more information on this issue, please do get in touch with a member of our Dispute Resolution team.
