If you’re planning on hiding behind an avatar on social media to post negative commentary, think twice. A complicated defamation lawsuit snaking through the Rockland Courts serves as a warning that anonymous posts are not necessarily anonymous and that social media companies can be compelled to reveal a poster’s identity.
A lawsuit filed in Rockland County Supreme Court by Lance Weinstein last year alleged an anonymous poster created accounts on Twitter, YouTube and Strikingly designed to “target and damage his reputation and character based on false statements, videos, photos, and other related content.” The content included accusations that Weinstein, a former Suffern police officer, had been arrested for both arson and domestic conflict, claimed to be a former Navy Seal, and was an animal abuser.
The suit alleges the social media campaign, which stretched over the course of a year and included scores of Internet posts, including 69 Tweets and hundreds of YouTube video views, caused Weinstein emotional distress and damage to his reputation and standing in the community, which thwarted him from finding employment and business opportunities.
Because Weinstein lacked proof as to who was posting anonymously, he retained an attorney to compel the social media platforms to reveal the author. New York law has a legal mechanism known as “...
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