USA: Libel by Blog and International Enforcement of Libel Judgments

Recently, there have been several developments in free speech protections in the United States and the United Kingdom.  In a case of first impression in the U.S., the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals extended First Amendment freedom of speech protections from traditional media outlets to individual bloggers.  Meanwhile, both the U.S. and the U.K. have adopted more speech protections to prevent plaintiffs seeking out favorable international venues for defamation actions (so-called “Libel Tourists”), with the…