Home / Legal Explainers / Media & Intellectual Property / Media / Defamation / How Can You Prove Defamation?

How Can You Prove Defamation?

Last updated on Sep 8, 2022

To prove a defamation case, you have to show the following things: 

  1. That the person who said or wrote things about you conveyed a defamatory message
  2. That the material was published, meaning that it was conveyed to someone other than you.
  3. That you could be identified as the person referred to in the defamatory material
  4. That you suffered some injury to your reputation as a result of the communication.

How useful was this post?

Click on a star to rate it!

Average rating 4.5 / 5. Vote count: 2

No votes so far! Be the first to rate this post.

Please share your feedback about this post!

Sharing feedback will help us improve our content. Tell us how!

If you want to keep your feedback confidential, please mention it in your feedback. If you have a question, please ask us in the comments or Ask Nyaaya sections.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Have a question you want to ask our legal experts?

Ask Nyaaya

Related Resources

What does the law say you can/cannot do?

While anything that lowers the authority of the courts can be considered as contempt, there are certain exceptions given in the law. These include innocent publication and distribution of matter, fair and accurate reporting of a judicial proceeding, fair criticism of judicial actions, complaint against presiding officers of subordinate courts and truth.

Social Media Advertisements

The MCC applies to all social media platforms. There are five categories of social media that are regulated under the MCC.

Print Media and MCC

All print media including newspapers have to follow the rules under the MCC.

What are the Forms of Defamation?

Saying or writing something which is harmful to a person's reputation, is called defamation. It’s against the law to intentionally harm someone’s reputation, cause them to be hated or disgraced through text, image, cartoons, caricatures or effigies.

Advertisements through Television and Radio 48 Hours before Elections

Advertisements or sponsored programmes or reports which support or criticize a candidate with an intention to influence the election cannot be broadcasted on the television or the radio.

What is the Punishment for Defamation?

If you say or write something to insult the reputation of a person, group of people or a company, a court can punish you for the crime of defamation. The punishment for defamation, in such cases, can be jail time up to 2 years and/or a fine.