A prominent British Columbia businessman and philanthropist s defamation lawsuit against Twitter Inc. can proceed in a court in the province, a judge has ruled.
Frank Giustra, founder of Lionsgate Entertainment, alleges in a lawsuit that numerous tweets were published linking him to a debunked child sex trafficking conspiracy theory known as pizzagate.
Twitter filed an application asking the B.C. Supreme Court to decline jurisdiction in favour of California, where the company is headquartered.
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However, Justice Elliott Myers wrote in a decision posted online Friday that Canadian law has established that internet defamation takes place where the statements are read.
VANCOUVER A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has ruled that businessman Frank Giustra s lawsuit against Twitter Inc. over alleged “false and defamatory” tweets can proceed in the province. Giustra, the founder of Lionsgate Entertainment and CEO of the Fiore Group of Companies, filed a civil lawsuit in April 2019 alleging that Twitter published defamatory tweets about him and neglected or refused to remove many of the posts despite his repeated requests. Giustra says in a statement of claim that he sits on the Clinton Foundation board and the tweets escalated during the 2016 U.S. election, accusing him of being involved in “Pizzagate,” a debunked child sex-trafficking conspiracy theory.
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DARRYL DYCK/The Globe and Mail
British Columbia’s top court will take on a defamation lawsuit against Twitter Inc. from one of the province’s wealthiest businessmen after the social-media company failed to take the case to California, where it would have no liability in such a case.
Mining and entertainment magnate Frank Giustra filed a civil suit against Twitter at the Supreme Court of British Columbia in April, 2019, alleging damages to his business and philanthropic relationships because of dozens of “false, defamatory, abusive and threatening tweets” that “Twitter has neglected or refused to remove.”
VANCOUVER A British Columbia Supreme Court judge has ruled that businessman Frank Giustra’s lawsuit against Twitter Inc. over alleged “false and defamatory” tweets can proceed in the province. Giustra, the founder of Lionsgate Entertainment and CEO of the Fiore Group of Companies, filed a civil lawsuit in April 2019 alleging that Twitter published defamatory […]
Laura Dhillon Kane
In this Feb. 8, 2018 file photo, the logo for Twitter is displayed above a trading post on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Richard Drew January 15, 2021 - 5:35 PM
VANCOUVER - A prominent British Columbia businessman and philanthropist s defamation lawsuit against Twitter Inc. can proceed in a court in the province, a judge has ruled.
Frank Giustra, founder of Lionsgate Entertainment, alleges in a lawsuit that numerous tweets were published linking him to a debunked child sex trafficking conspiracy theory known as pizzagate.
Twitter filed an application asking the B.C. Supreme Court to decline jurisdiction in favour of California, where the company is headquartered.