Defamation Law Update in Ireland - What You Need to Know

Introduction

The reputation of a person or company is one of their most important possessions. The law of defamation deals with damage to such reputation, which has become an increasingly widespread phenomenon with the proliferation of content being posted online.

While the basis of defamation law has remained largely unchanged for centuries, the advent of social media, and particularly comments by anonymous users, have created new challenges for legal professionals.

With the Republic of Ireland as the centre of EMEA operations for many of the world's largest online platforms, this jurisdiction has recently become a focus for defamation actions involving social media platforms.

Furthermore, the long-awaited reform of defamation law in the Republic of Ireland is nearing completion, as the Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024 is due to be enacted in the coming months.

This webinar will examine the current law, the proposed changes, and the significant recent case law in Ireland, which has clarified the status of the law in publication via ‘traditional’ media, while also suggesting how defamation via ‘new media’ will be treated in the future.

What You Will Learn

This webinar will cover the following:

• A brief recap on the basics of defamation law - the necessary ingredients to bring a claim, and the defences available to a publisher, be it a large media organisation or an individual user of social media
• The principal differences between the law in Ireland and other jurisdictions
• The changes to the law proposed by the Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024
• The new challenges provided by defamation via the internet, including the difficulty in dealing with publication by anonymous users, and the potential liability of the online platforms who host this material
• Analysis of significant recent case law to include Stillorgan Gas v Manning & Manning [2025] and Adams v BBC [2025 jury trial]

This pre-recorded webinar will be available to view from Friday 5th December 2025

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