by Michael Roberts of Rexxfield
(Watch Michael's story on 60 Minutes)
Victims of Internet smear campaigns must understand the sociopath's or narcissist's expert employment of “SPIN” in their online smear campaigns. This is singularly the best way to begin to understand the way I and many others have found ourselves so frequently gasping in their wake of carnage.
When executing their anti-social agendas, their modus operandi is to sprinkle enough truth in any given lie to add credence to their deceptions.
Alternatively, sometimes they will “kitchen sink it”, that is to say, they overdose the performance with too much information; the end result is very muddy waters in which no reasonable person can navigate. The kitchen-sink approach is often reserved as a "last stand" when the sociopath's make-believe walls begin to crumble bolstered only by charm, persuasion, sophistry and divide/conquer tactics.
If a lawsuit for Internet libel is to ensue, it is important to put the "spin" on the back burner and build your case around the clear statements of fact that can be proven to be deceptive, thus making for a stronger case. As for the spin, you will need to persuade the judge or jury that the statements were woven in a way so as to cast a false light on the facts. You would need to show that the spin would reasonably be understood to be an expression which would attack a person's integrity or moral character and/or expose the person to public hatred, contempt or ridicule and /or deprive the person of the benefits of public confidence and social dealings and /or injure the plaintiff in the maintenance of his or her business.
Read Also: How to avoid dismissal of libel lawsuit under Anti-SLAPP legislation.
THE PRACTICAL DEFINITION OF “SPIN”:
The most common referents for spin are:
- a form of deception which tries to redirect the way (or whether) one thinks about an issue and /
- or; a way of giving a positive or negative cast to a story.
Spin at its best:
- Cannot be factually disproved.
- Looks like it is addressing an issue directly but is not.
In early 2009, I was told by a libel victim who read these pages that he almost cried with relief because he had found others who know exactly what they are going through.
