[ad_1]
A defamation case brought against Tesla last year and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk After repeatedly calling a British cave diver, the "pedo guy" will go to trial on October 22, a US District Judge said Friday.
Vernon Unsworth, the British cave diver, filed a defamation lawsuit in September 2018 in the Central District Court of California, after Musk called him a "pedo-guy" and made others. statements insinuating that he was a pedophile during a public attack on Twitter. .
The Verge was the first to report the court's decision.
A Tesla spokesperson could not be contacted immediately to comment
US District Judge Stephen V. Wilson dismissed a motion that the case be dismissed and instead set a date for the trial. The decision means that Unsworth's case is strong enough to be judged.
Musk's lawyers argued that statements on the Internet, and more particularly on unmoderated forums such as Twitter, are supposed to be opinions and not objective facts. The law of defamation does not apply to opinions or insults. But Wilson rejected Musk's argument, in part because of an email interaction with BuzzFeed. the journalist and former TechCrunch reporter, Drew Olanoff.
"Taking into account all the circumstances – including the general context of the defendant's statements, the specific context of the statements and the fact that those statements are likely to be proven true or false – a reasonable fact finding could easily allow to conclude that the defendant's statements, as pleaded in the complaint, implicit assertions of objective facts, "writes Wilson in the decision.
The lawsuit alleges that between July 15 and August 30, Musk periodically used Twitter and e-mails to the media to issue false and defamatory charges against Unsworth, including charges of pedophilia and child rape. .
The initial attack on the "pedo guy" took place after Unsworth gave a critical interview to the media, claiming that the Musk mini-submarine "had no chance to work." The diving expert concluded an interview suggesting that Musk "stick his submarine where it hurts".
Musk criticized Twitter and insinuated that Unsworth was a pedophile. He then deleted the offending tweet and tried to go back – even apologizing on Twitter. And everything could have stopped there. But then, Musk found everything in a debate with Olanoff – again on Twitter. Olanoff had referred to the attack of the "pedo type" as an example of Musk telling lies.
[ad_2]
Source link