People seem to forget that as easy as it is to post a mean or nasty comment online, it is just as easy to ruin someone’s life or career in an instant. This is what happened in Australia where 74-year old Kenneth Rothe was awarded $115,000 when the judge found in his favor after a slanderous Facebook post ruined his life and his career.Back in 2014, a man by the name of David Scott made a post claiming that Rothe’s businesses, two hotels named Nirvana Village and Blue Dolphin Motels, were used by pedophiles. “Pedophile [sic] warning:- Nambucca has been used as a relocation for these monsters – blue dolphin –nirvana hotel and above the Indian restaurant! …Bus stops are right out front of theses hotels for our children?”
It seems that these posts were completely untrue and Rothe had reached out to Scott to ask him to retract his claims, to which he declined. As a result of those accusations, Rothe claims to have received anonymous phone calls threatening his life, and on one occasion was even hospitalized as a result of being assaulted, all of which ended up with him having to move away from the area with his family.
Thankfully there was justice as Judge Judith Gibson found that Scott’s claims were baseless and was written completely out of the blue, and order him to pay Rothe $115,000 (or around AUD$150,000). According to Gibson, “The anonymity, instaneousness and wide ranging reach of the Internet and social media make it a dangerous tool in the hands of persons who see themselves as caped crusaders or whistleblowers.”
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