Within the past 50 years, First Amendment lawyers have convinced courts and state legislatures to increase the difficulty for plaintiffs to bring defamation lawsuits, which “have helped preserve the public debate that is vital to our democracy,” writes Covington & Burling Associate Jeff Kosseff, CIPP/US. “Unfortunately, privacy law has long provided plaintiffs with an end-run around the First Amendment,” adding, “Rather than filing a defamation lawsuit, plaintiffs bring claims under a privacy tort known as ‘false light.’” In this Privacy Perspectives post, Kosseff argues why this privacy tort is outdated and unnecessary.
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