Clay Calvert, director of the Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project at the University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications, is the author of “Troll Storms and Tort Liability for Speech Urging Action by Others: A First Amendment Analysis and an Initial Step Toward a Federal Rule” published in the Washington University Law Review, Volume 97, Issue No. 4.

The article examines both tort liability and First Amendment issues surrounding so-called troll storms in which a victim-plaintiff is harassed by individuals who follow a call to action by a speaker-defendant.

According to Calvert, “Recent lawsuits against Daily Stormer publisher Andrew Anglin for sparking ‘troll storms’ provide a timely analytical springboard into the issue of vicarious tort liability. Furthermore, such liability is particularly problematic when a speaker’s message urging action does not fall into an unprotected category of expression, such as incitement or true threats, and thus, were it not for tort law, would be fully protected.”

He adds, “In examining the possibility of vicarious tort liability, this commentary reviews the U.S. Supreme Court’s ‘authorized, directed, or ratified’ test for vicarious liability.”

Posted: May 6, 2020
Category: College News, Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project News
Tagged as: Clay Calvert, Marion B. Brechner First Amendment Project