Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and other forms of social media are becoming the dominant communication tools in today’s political and social discourse, often entirely supplanting traditional media’s role in public commentary. Social media’s emerging role, combined with the extreme divisions so evident in our country, have caused the courts to consider application of pre-Internet legal standards to defamation and other torts brought in response to tweets, Facebook posts, and content on other social media platforms. Recently, a number of courts have considered the context provided by social media and how online forums impact the reader’s expectation of truth and the distinction between fact and opinion.
The Political Strategist’s Case
In April 2016, Cheryl Jacobus, a frequent commentator on television news channels and other media outlets “from the Republican perspective,” sued Donald J. Trump, his campaign organization, and his then-campaign manager for alleged defamation.
