![handle is hein.journals/ohlj56 and id is 1 raw text is:
Preface
OHLJ Special Issue: Reforming
Defamation Law in the Age of the
Internet
JAMIE CAMERON*
Even as technology transforms the world of communication-as it has over the
course of history-defamation law remains strangely impervious to change. True
enough, the law has evolved over time, indeed centuries, but seems as beholden
as ever to an archaic muddle of backwater rules and concepts. It is disappointing,
for instance, that the law arguably worsened after the Supreme Court of Canada
considered the status of defamation under s.2(b) of the Charter of Rights and
Freedoms, which guarantees expressive freedom.1 Doctrinal corrections were slow
and even then served in the main to bring Canada abreast of jurisprudential
developments in Commonwealth countries without constitutional rights.2
Whether, when, or just how internet technology will force a re-conception
of defamation law remains to be seen. On May 3, 2018, and with co-chairs
Professors Jamie Cameron and Hilary Young, the Law Commission of Ontario
(LCO) hosted a conference in Toronto titled Defamation Law and the
Internet: Where do we go from here? This conference was part of the LCO's
Professor, Osgoode Hall Law School and Guest Editor, Reforming Defamation Law in the
Age of the Internet.
1. See e.g. Church of Scientology v Hill, [1995] 2 SCR 1130.
2. See e.g., WIC Radio v Simpson, [2008] 2 SCR 420; see also Grant v Torstar Corp.,
[2009] 3 SCR 640.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/ohlj56&div=1&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
What Is HeinOnline?
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most
Contact us for annual subscription options:
Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?
profiles profiles most