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If a company or journalist known for publishing non-satirical news was to stray from their normal reporting on April fools day, and publish something like;

"Amazon hit with ransomware, customer credit card information leaked on the dark web"

And the body of the article develops a long-winded and fictitious ransomware event at Amazon, but at the very end of the article includes a "Happy April Fools Day!" line, would that exempt them from any liability from financial or reputational loss on behalf of Amazon as a result of their joke?

Example of potential financial or reputational damage; let's say that as a result of such a joke;

  1. Amazon support gets overloaded by customers asking about the hack/ransomware.
  2. Customers contact their banking institution and cancel cards, potentially causing financial damages to Amazon for services/products that weren't paid for as a result.

In my mind, that could cause financial damages to Amazon, and reputational damages, that could potentially fall under something like tortious interference.

Cypriot90
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1 Answers1

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This is a form of libel. Libel is not protected by the first amendment. The exact laws vary by state. Quoting https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/defamation , libel law is typically as follows:

To prove prima facie defamation, a plaintiff must show four things:

  1. a false statement purporting to be fact;
  2. publication or communication of that statement to a third person;
  3. fault amounting to at least negligence;
  4. damages, or some harm caused to the reputation of the person or entity who is the subject of the statement.

#1 would be covered by the statement itself, assuming the publication lacked proper disclaimers.
#2 is trivially satisfied.
#3 is debatable; providing sufficient hinting that the article is parody would perhaps be enough to argue against negligence, depending on context.
#4 would require showing harm (e.g., increased support tickets, fewer Amazon orders, etc.).

Unsurprisingly, the answer would depend heavily on context.

Brian
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