Media outlets that publicized a police photo of a suspected sexual predator—and then left the picture on their websites long after a misidentified man complained—cannot be held liable for defamation, a Bronx judge has held.
But while Supreme Court Judge Edgar Walker (See Profile) said the New York Daily News and WPIX are absolutely shielded by New York Civil Rights Law §74, the judge found it “unconscionable” that any publisher would refuse to remove an item from its website that it knows to be false. He suggested the Legislature consider revising the law.
