How to sue for defamation – a guide for those affected by offensive advertising

על מנת להבין איך תובעים על הוצאת דיבה צריכים קודם כל להבין מהי "הוצאת דיבה" (בשפה המשפטית המונח הנכון הוא "slander"). הוצאת דיבה, בתיאור תמציתי מאוד, אלה אמירות שעשויות לבזות או להשפיל אדם כלשהו. הביזוי עשוי לבוא לידי ביטוי, בין היתר, באמצעות התייחסות לגזעו, מוצאו, דתו, מקום מגוריו, גילו, מינו, נטייתו המינית או מוגבלותו, של האדם שבו מנסים לפגוע.

אם האמירה של הפוגע כלל איננה נכנסת להגדרת המונח "לשון הרע" בחוק אין טעם לחשוב איך תובעים על הוצאת דיבה משום שתביעה כזו לא תתקבל בבית המשפט.

Another thing that is very important to know is that the courts do not award compensation for everyday street swearing, but it is certainly possible to receive financial compensation for nicknames such as Nazi, stinking nigger, liar, and fraud, etc.

How to sue for defamation – the prerequisites

In order to file a defamation lawsuit, two conditions must be met:

1. האמירה הפוגענית צריכה להכנס להגדרת "לשון הרע" בחוק איסור לשון הרע.
2. The offensive publication must be made publicly. In other words, there is no way to talk about suing for defamation if it is an offensive statement that the offender said or wrote exclusively to the victim. There must necessarily be advertising to other people..

If the conditions are not met, you can still technically file a defamation lawsuit in court, but the likelihood that the court will accept your claim and award you monetary compensation is very slim. For this reason, it is very important to consult with Defamation lawyer Immediately after you start finding out how to sue for defamation, in order to understand as quickly as possible whether it makes sense to invest time and resources after you have been harmed by some publication.

How is the amount of compensation required determined in a defamation lawsuit?

The amount of possible compensation

When examining and examining how to sue for defamation, one should consider, among other things, the amount of compensation that can be claimed in accordance with the provisions of the Defamation Prohibition Law. This law refers to two possible situations in which completely different amounts can be claimed:

1. הוצאת דיבה "רגילה" – פיצוי עד 72 אלף ש"ח ללא הוכחת נזק בגין כל פרסום.
2. הוצאת דיבה עם כוונה לפגוע – פיצוי עד 144 אלף ש"ח ללא הוכחת נזק בגין כל פרסום.

We will illustrate with examples. The difference between the two situations is so that you understand that you are suing for defamation and stating the correct amount in the lawsuit, in the case that is relevant to you: Let's say that Shlomi wanted to shame my father and posted a claim about him on Facebook. Completely false According to which my father stole money from his employer. This publication meets the preliminary conditions set forth in the Defamation Law because it was published publicly and is likely to embarrass or humiliate my father.

In the second example: Shlomi wants to shame my father, but instead of posting on Facebook, Shlomi contacts my father's employer and claims that his father stole money from the employer. In this contact, Shlomi intends to harm my father and cause his employer to fire him.

In these examples, my father will not have to think about how to sue for defamation, but rather how much money he should claim from me for defamation, because my father has Right to a good name. בדוגמה הראשונה אבי יוכל לתבוע פיצוי כספי ללא הוכחת נזק עד לסך של 72 אלף ש"ח, ובדוגמה השניה אבי יוכל לתבוע Financial compensation without proof of damage עד לסך של 144 אלף ש"ח.

Number of offensive posts

In order to understand how to sue for defamation, one must first understand how offensive the publications are.

For example: My father really wants to hurt my peace and decided to do it. Online shaming And spread false information against Shlomi In different placesMy father posted an offensive post on Facebook, an offensive post on Twitter, and another offensive post on a forum outside of Facebook.

That is, these are three different publications. Each of those publications allows Shlomi to submit Defamation lawsuit ולדרוש בגין כל פרסום בין 72-144 אלף ש"ח (Depends on whether the posts were intended to be offensive or not).

The distribution of offensive publications

There is a significant difference in the financial compensation that can be received in a defamation lawsuit following an advertisement made to one person compared to an advertisement made in a large Facebook group with hundreds or thousands of participants. Facebook shaming lawsuit or a claim for Slander on WhatsApp (within a large group) will generally lead to higher financial compensation compared to a claim for offensive statements made to a small group of people (for example, within a tenants' meeting).

The rule to remember in this matter is that the greater the exposure of the offensive statement, the higher the amount of compensation is expected to be.

The severity of the offensive statement

גובה הפיצוי במסגרת תביעה על הוצאת דיבה נקבע גם בהתאם לחומרת האמירה הפוגענית. עשוי להיות הבדל גדול מאוד בסכום הפיצוי הכספי שתובע עשוי לקבל בעקבות הכינוי "crook" לעומת "פדופיל". הקונוטציה השלילית בעקבות הכינוי "פדופיל" עשויה להיות חמורה הרבה יותר משום שפגיעה מינית בילדים קטנים נחשבת לחמורה במיוחד.

באופן דומה הפיצוי הכספי בגין הכינוי "פאשיסט" צפוי להיות גבוה הרבה יותר לעומת הכינוי "גנב". ההיסטוריה של העם היהודי מלמדת שכל הקשור בנאציזם/פאשיזם מתקבל בחומרה ובסלידה רבה הרבה יותר.

Documenting publications and collecting evidence

How do you sue for defamation without proper evidence? Of course, this is not possible. For this reason, as soon as you are exposed to offensive publications about you, you should make sure to document them.

If the offensive posts were made online, you must document them with screenshots.

If the offensive publications were made by sending letters to various parties, you must receive copies of those letters.

If the offensive statements were made orally to other people, you will need to subpoena them to testify in court. If they are willing to cooperate with you, try to get them to sign an affidavit in advance detailing the offensive statements made to them.

You cannot succeed in a defamation lawsuit if you do not cite accurately in the Claim The exact statements, and if not actually proven, with admissible evidence, that the offensive statements were indeed said or written and published in public.

How to sue for defamation – first contact with the potential defendant

It will not always be appropriate to immediately file a defamation lawsuit because this involves quite a bit of money and time from the plaintiff's perspective, and it is possible that the plaintiff's main goal is not to receive financial compensation at all, but rather to first have the offensive publications removed from the network.

Especially in these circumstances, it is worth considering sending Warning letter before lawsuit to the offender. If the offender agrees to remove the offending posting, you will not necessarily have to file a complaint. Financial claim or Civil lawsuit, unless you decide that you would also like to receive financial compensation.

על מנת "לעודד" את הפוגע להסיר את כל הפרסומים הפוגענים, תדאגו לציין במכתב ההתראה מהו הסכום המקסימלי שהחוק מאפשר לכם לתבוע בעקבות כל הפרסומים הפוגעניים שפורסמו על ידי הפוגע. בדרך כלל, סכום תביעה גבוה מרתיע, במיוחד מי שאינו בעל השכלה משפטית.

Do you file a defamation lawsuit in small claims court or another court?

Assuming that after sending the warning letter you are still considering how to sue for defamation, it is a sign that the offender has ignored your demands in the letter. Under these circumstances, there is no choice but to file a lawsuit in court. The question arises as to which court should you file a lawsuit for defamation?

Small claims court has certain advantages. A small claim is a relatively short procedure in which the plaintiff is not required to hire the services of an attorney (attorneys are prohibited from representing in small claims court without prior permission from the court). For this reason, the plaintiff will not be required to pay attorney fees and the court fee will be lower.

In contrast, while in the Small Claims Court the plaintiff can claim a maximum of 37.5 thousand shekels (the amount is updated slightly each year), in the Magistrate's Court the plaintiff can claim up to 2.5 million shekels, and in the District Court over 2.5 million shekels.

Representation by a lawyer, especially in defamation cases, may be critical for the plaintiff. In this area, one must be familiar with the relevant legislation and case law in order to deal with possible defense claims. A person without legal education will not be able to deal with legal claims, and therefore the fact that a plaintiff has chosen not to hire the services of a lawyer may lead to his claim being dismissed entirely, and he will be expected to pay legal costs to the defendant.

In conclusion

איך תובעים על הוצאת דיבה זאת שאלה שאינה פשוטה. צריכים להבין תחילה מהי הוצאת דיבה ובאילו מקרים פרסום עשוי להחשב "הוצאת דיבה" (לשון הרע). רק במקרים שמקיימים את הוראות חוק איסור לשון הרע תוכלו לדרוש פיצוי כספי.

The amount of financial compensation you can claim is derived, among other things, from the severity of the offensive statements, the exposure the offensive statements received, the number of offensive statements, and whether there was an intention to harm.

It is not always appropriate to file a defamation lawsuit immediately. In some cases, it is worth considering sending a warning letter before filing a lawsuit to try and first get the offending publication removed.

ניתן להגיש תביעה על הוצאת דיבה לבית משפט לתביעות קטנות, אך ברוב המקרים זה לא מומלץ לנוכח סכום הפיצוי המקסימלי שניתן לתבוע (עד כ-34 אלף ש"ח בלבד), ולנוכח העובדה שלא תוכלו להנות מייצוג עורך דין.

Frequently Asked Questions About How to Sue for Defamation