The Government of Guyana has retained law firms in the United States of America to address matters relating to inciting racism and violence among Guyanese, through the use of social media platforms.
This is according to Minister of Legal Affairs Anil Nandlall who on Tuesday evening stated that some persons on social media have been using their platforms to libel persons, publish statements that are racist or inflammatory and incite violence.
“At the level of the government, we are addressing these matters in so far as these statements can cause public harm. We are working with US law enforcement agencies, we are working with law firms in America retained for this purpose and in so far as these statements can and are intended to cause public injury…they will be dealt with condignly by the government,” he stated during his weekly programme “Issues in the News”.
The Attorney General welcomed private litigations filed by Guyanese against posts seeking to defame their characters. He used the opportunity to debunk claims that the persons making the posts cannot face charges in the local courts since they may reside overseas, moreso in the United States where there is a large Guyanese population.
“Whether you are in the United States, Canada or Timbuktu, if you publish something defamatory about me, and it is read or seen in 1000 other countries, you are liable because the wrong takes place or the law is breached wherever my reputation is injured,” he explained.
Nandlall added that “your presence or absence from the jurisdiction does not mean and cannot mean that you will not be liable for the wrong you have committed in this jurisdiction and if you have used the medium of your Facebook account and Facebook platform, then you are liable wherever that post is published and everyone who reads and shares that post, [that] is a different publication.”
Recently, Minister within the Ministry of Public Works, Deodat Indar filed a $50 million defamation lawsuit in the High Court against social media activist Melissa Ann Atwell, known as ‘Melly Mel’, and Opposition Parliamentarian Sherod Duncan, alleging that they defamed him during a Facebook Live session.
The Attorney General said the internet is a useful tool and should not be misused.
“We have to use this platform responsibly and legally, we can’t use this platform as a weapon to attack and destroy the character and reputation of people and their families,” he pleaded.
He also pointed out that each person is liable for comments or posts on their platforms regardless of who made the post.
Guyana passed the Cybercrime Act in 2018 containing substantive provisions referring to illegal access, illegal interception, data and system interference, misuse of devices, computer-related forgery and computer-related fraud, followed by offences affecting critical infrastructure and content-related offences.
