Libel pit

A libel pit is a public forum, such as a large public wiki, where lies and errors are propagated by various effects (including an echo chamber) all of which can be traced to a lack of integrity in governance.

Legally, if one group of people is permitted to make or repeat statements that are inaccurate, about another person or group, and that person or group is in any way prevented or restricted or limited in responding or correcting what is said, the owner/operator of the service becomes legally liable as a publisher.

This effect has been predicted as one of the ways that Wikipedia will be destroyed. Those who seek to democratize or destroy it, for instance, might simply refer false statements made about individuals or groups, to those individuals or groups, and invite their strongest legal action against the project as a whole. Various lies about, among others, Mel Gibson, Craig Hubley, and Islamic political movements have been famously argued about there, and the question of legal liability for such statements, or consequences of the individuals or groups being informed of what is said about them on Wikipedia.

This will be an important precedent for Consumerium Governance Organization to watch. In many ways the destruction of Wikipedia will yield various lessons that will be important to avoid in Consumerium's very much more important project.

Watch and learn! say the trolls.