Bill Text: HI SCR35 | 2016 | Regular Session | Introduced

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Bill Title: Defamation; Libel; Slander; Internet

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 5-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2016-03-23 - The committee on EET deferred the measure. [SCR35 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2016-SCR35-Introduced.html

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THE SENATE	S.C.R. NO.	35
TWENTY-EIGHTH LEGISLATURE, 2016
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE CONCURRENT

RESOLUTION

 

 

REQUESTING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND THE ATTORNEY GENERAL OF THE STATE TO EXAMINE WAYS TO REMOVE DEFAMATORY STATEMENTS FROM THE INTERNET.

 

 

     WHEREAS, slander and libel can defame a person's reputation and standing in the person's family and community, and can even affect the person's ability to work; and

 

     WHEREAS, defamatory statements can affect the profitability of an honest business, which can affect the ability of its employees to make a living; and

 

     WHEREAS, no one has a constitutional right to maliciously and knowingly make or spread false and defamatory statements; and

 

     WHEREAS, while the Internet is a useful tool in sharing helpful and truthful information, it can also be a detrimental and devastating tool in spreading false and defamatory statements; and

 

     WHEREAS, even after a victim of defamation sues and obtains a judgment in a court of competent jurisdiction against a slanderer or libeler, the victim's reputation can still be damaged by the republication of the defamatory comment on the Internet; and

 

     WHEREAS, websites and individuals are often not aware that the statements they are republishing are false and defamatory; and

 

     WHEREAS, it would be unduly burdensome to require victims to return to court to file suit against everyone who republishes a false and defamatory statement about the victim on the Internet; and

 

     WHEREAS, Internet search engines are a primary gateway to the dissemination of webpage links on the Internet; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-eighth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2016, the House of Representatives concurring, that the United States Congress; the United States Department of Justice; the Federal Communications Commission; and the Department of the Attorney General, State of Hawaii are requested to examine ways to remove statements and other materials from the Internet after victims obtain judgments from courts of competent jurisdiction that find the statements and other materials to be defamatory; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the foregoing authorities are requested to place particular emphasis on Internet search engine results and the possible removal from those results of hyperlinks to webpages with defamatory statements and materials; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Concurrent Resolution be transmitted to the Majority Leader of the United States Senate; the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives; Hawaii's congressional delegation; the Attorney General of the United States; the Chairman of the Federal Communications Commission; and the Attorney General of the State of Hawaii.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Defamation; Libel; Slander; Internet