A post accompanied by photos in a “closed” WhatsApp group of a communal settlement accused one of the residents of using public water and electricity resources to wash his private car without any permission. The post did not mention the resident’s name.
The court accepted the claim and ruled that it was defamation. The law defines defamation as something the publication of which is likely to humiliate a person in the eyes of others, making him a target for hatred, contempt, or ridicule on their part, whether by oral, written, or printed publication, whether it was intended for and reached that person or someone else. The element of publication will apply even if it can be learned from the publication who the person in question is. Here, the publication accusing the theft was made in writing and with pictures in a local WhatsApp group of the settlement, when various residents identified who the person in question was based on the publication. Therefore, the publication amounts to defamation.
