Recent world events have demonstrated to the most doubting of Thomases the power of social media. Barbados social media is building momentum, Facebook is said to have 100,000 plus Barbadians as members and recent blogs like Real Talk//Gird Your Loins are helping to ensure a strong Bajan blogosphere. Inevitably, there will be attempts by many to muzzle, threaten and otherwise suborn the social media. After all we represent a threat to the establishment. BU has been subjected to such tactics in the past as the BU family knows. We note the latest such attack with interest.
In a report entitled New Barbados Tourism Authority Director charged with tax evasion? and dated April 2, 2011, Barbados Free Press (BFP) published verbatim a report also dated April 2, 2011 from the Nation . Included in the Nation report was a list of names of persons alleged to have failed to file required tax returns, either business or personal. Fair comment, you would think? NOT according to attorney-at-law, Donna Symmonds.
On April 11, 2011, Donna Symmonds posted the following letter in BFP’s comments section (redacted by BU).
While the relationship between BU and BFP is non-existent, BU is concerned by the bigger picture, the attempt by a senior counsel in Barbados to threaten and browbeat an organ of the social media for having reproduced a report from the Nation, itself available online to all and sundry. BU has to ask the question as to whether the Nation has received a similar letter from Ms Symmonds on behalf of her client and what response (if any) she has received from the Nation.
BU has redacted the name and any identifier for Ms Symmonds’ client out of fairness, as all charges have been unconditionally dismissed and BU is not concerned with the matter per se, but with the attempt to threaten and browbeat an organ of the social media based on a somewhat questionable premise of defamation. Any attempt to intimidate a member of the Bajan social media from any quarter will be taken as an attack on BU.
BU cannot speak for BFP, but for itself it says that, had it published such a report, it would have needed no such threats and unenforceable intimidations (nor would it have entertained them) from Ms Symmonds, but would have responded positively to a polite request and immediately and prominently UPDATE the matter, which was, in any event, public domain and therefore fair comment – but that is the way BU has chosen to operate. BU would have considered it only fair to report on developments as they occur. As for what BU’s response to indemnification for damage sustained, well BU’s response would have been for Donna Symmonds to take a hike!
BU intends to track this issue to see if (a) the Nation withdraws or amends its report; and (b) if BFP follows suit.
This is a matter of interest to all who follow and contribute to the social media.
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