Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Bloggers not above the law - academic

Updated at 6:18 am on 15 September 2010

A legal academic says a judgement in the case of blogger Cameron Slater shows bloggers are not above the law.

Slater, who writes the Whale Oil blog, was convicted in the Auckland District Court on Tuesday on eight charges of breaching non-publication orders, as well a charge of revealing information likely to identify a sexual crime victim.

Otago University Associate Law Professor Andrew Geddis says bloggers tend to believe they can say what they like.

But he says the judgement recognises that anything published online is subject to local laws, including name suppression.

Another blogger, David Farrar, says the ruling also clarifies the boundaries of the law for bloggers.

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