Dan Schneider Defamation Suit Raises New Social Media Question

A Los Angeles state court judge stepped back from a tentative ruling to strike television producer Dan Schneider’s defamation lawsuit over the “Quiet on Set” docu-series Friday, saying it raises potentially novel issues.

A key question is the extent to which a judge should consider a social media consensus to decide whether content is defamatory to a reasonable audience. The case also raises whether a defamation claim should take into account an entire piece of media, or if clips and trailers can be weighed in isolation.

“We can agree social media is not a wellspring of truth and understanding always,” ...