Observer and Guardian journalist Carole Cadwalladr has been ordered to pay Arron Banks, a British businessman and co-founder of the Brexit campaign, 60% of the cost he incurred in a long-running defamation suit after he won it partially on Friday. The ruling said she must also issue an apology and delete some tweets.
According to Banks, the 60% of his costs Cadwalladr must pay will come to around £1.2 million.
The issue revolved around comments made by Cadwalladr in an April 2019 Technology, Entertainment, and Design (TED) talk in which she accused Banks of lying about “his covert relationship with the Russian government,” as well as a tweet linked to the speech.
Banks, a major donor to the Leave campaign in the run-up to the 2016 referendum, sued Cadwalladr for defamation. Banks argued the statements made by Cadwalladr were “false and defamatory” and sought damages and an injunction to restrain the continued publication of the remarks, which are still available to view online.
Initially, Arron Banks had lost the case, as the court had ruled that the 2019 Ted Talk by Carole Cadwalladr was both in the public interest and lawful. However, things changed later after a probe found no truth in her allegations against Banks.
The Electoral Commission announced in April 2020 that a National Crime Agency investigation concluded there was no evidence to support the allegations against Banks or his companies. But a court of Justice Steyn ruled in favour of Cadwalladr in a June 2022 ruling, stating that the journalist had a “reasonable belief” that her comments were in the public interest prior to the April 2020 declaration.
While the court said that the public interest defence fell way after the allegations were found to be false, it said that Banks had not suffered severe harm to his reputation due the comments. The court also ruled that Carole Cadwalladr has no control over the TES website which carried her false allegations against Banks.
Arron Banks appealed the decision to the Court of Appeal, claiming that the judge miscalculated the damage to his reputation and misread defamation law.Banks had not proved that what Ms Cadwalladr tweeted had caused or was likely to cause “serious harm to his reputation”.
Three senior judges ruled in February that the appeal should be allowed in relation to the TED talk’s publication after April 29, 2020, but upheld Justice Steyn’s other decisions. The court retained the ruling that Banks had not proved that what Cadwalladr tweeted had caused or was likely to cause “serious harm to his reputation”.
Later the court documents showed that Banks “was the successful party on the appeal and overall, ruling that Cadwalladr must pay 60% of his legal costs in the case. She must also repay almost £800,000 in costs that Banks paid her after he initially lost the case. Along with that, she has been ordered to pay a third of his costs at the Court of Appeal, which is £52,000. Given that she will also has to pay her own legal costs, it is estimated that she will have to pay around £2 million.
Interestingly, the text of the court order indicates that she had accepted that her allegations were not true. It states that the defendants accepted that the allegations were not true, and can no longer be defended using public interest defence.
“The Claimant was the successful party on the appeal and overall. He has established that the Defendant was responsible for the unlawful publication to 100,000 or more people in this jurisdiction of a serious imputation, which caused serious harm to the Claimant’s reputation, which the Defendant accepts was not true, and which (as she also accepted on appeal) was no longer defensible in the public interest. He has established a right to substantial compensation, now agreed in the sum of £35,000. He has also secured an apology, an acknowledgement of the falsity of the meaning complained of, the amendment of the TED Talk, an undertaking not to repeat the allegation complained of, and the removal of some Tweets…,” the court said, clearing the way for Banks to seek compensation.
Responding to the judgement, Arron Bank tweeted today, “The overall balance was that the judge said I won & awarded costs to me. Carole paid damages, apologised & agreed never to repeat what she had said. Facts matter in a world of fake news, Alan ..”
The overall balance was that the judge said I won & awarded costs to me. Carole paid damages, apologised & agreed never to repeat what she had said. Facts matter in a world of fake news, Alan .. https://t.co/xqjbYHtAzV
— Arron Banks (@Arron_banks) May 19, 2023
On the other hand, Carole Cadwalladr described it as a ‘dark day for press freedom in the UK.’ “This decision has huge ramifications for any news organisation or journalist who believes that the overwhelming public interest of a story will enable them to speak truth to power,” she said, adding that “many abuses of power” in the UK go untold because “our defamation laws are among the most repressive in the world”.
A dark day for freedom of the press, for everyone who cares about it and for every journalist & news organisation that believes in public interest reporting.
— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) May 18, 2023
A statement: pic.twitter.com/OfTTVezPmh
A barrage of leftist liberals and media outlets also rallied to her defence. Media and journalist organisations are virtually saying that journalists should not be punished for spreading false information in the ‘public interest’. According to them, the fact that the court had initially found the comments were in the public interest is the only thing that matters.
Later the same court said that the defence of public interest was no longer after her comments were found to be false. While the court had said that there were doubts whether Banks had suffered harm in his reputation, it had categorically said that there is no public interest in spreading false information. But ignoring these facts, the left liberals chose to attack the court order.
Guardian released a statement in support of its journalist Carole Cadwalladr stating that the Appeal Court ruling in favour of Arron Banks and the high level of costs awarded to Banks sets a ‘chilling precedent and represents a major blow to public interest journalism.’ It is notable that Cadwalladr is a features writer for The Observer, the sister publication of the Guardian.
A statement in support of @carolecadwalla https://t.co/u1YDzZu6ua pic.twitter.com/dCXbAyxxqi
— Guardian Comms (@GuardianComms) May 19, 2023
Reporters Without Borders said that the huge cost awarded by the court will “send a chilling message to journalists everywhere.”
🇬🇧#UK: The huge court costs of over £1m investigative journalist @carolecadwalla has been ordered to pay Arron Banks – despite recognition her reporting was in the public interest when published – send a chilling message to journalists everywhere. 👇 https://t.co/jolmmXjT0t
— RSF in English (@RSF_en) May 18, 2023
European Centre from Press & Media Freedom (ECPMF) expressed concern over the court decision saying that it would have a ‘chilling effect on critical journalism worldwide.’
🇬🇧 ECPMF is concerned to hear that the UK Court of Appeal has ordered @carolecadwalla to pay 60% – more than £1 million – of businessman Arron Banks’ High Court costs. We believe this decision will have a chilling effect on critical journalism worldwide.https://t.co/jEUVrVUIOT
— European Centre for Press & Media Freedom (@ECPMF) May 19, 2023
“We stand in full solidarity with Carole Cadwalladr and call on the UK government to immediately adopt national Anti-SLAPP law to ensure other journalists will not have to go through this injustice,” ECPMF tweeted further.
We stand in full solidarity with Carole Cadwalladr and call on the UK government to immediately adopt national Anti-SLAPP law to ensure other journalists will not have to go through this injustice.
— European Centre for Press & Media Freedom (@ECPMF) May 19, 2023
A statement in support of @carolecadwalla https://t.co/u1YDzZu6ua pic.twitter.com/dCXbAyxxqi
— Guardian Comms (@GuardianComms) May 19, 2023
“Don’t let journalists be intimidated by these kinds of fines. Support @carolecadwalla and help cover her expenses and stand for press freedom,” tweeted a columnist working for the British daily business newspaper Financial Times.
Don’t let journalists be intimidated by these kinds of fines. Support @carolecadwalla and help cover her expenses and stand for press freedom ↘️ https://t.co/sNmQde4SDu
— Marietje Schaake (@MarietjeSchaake) May 20, 2023
The International Press Institute (IPI) also expressed solidarity with investigative journalist, Carole Cadwalladr after the court ruling.
🇬🇧#UK: IPI & our global network express solidarity with @carolecadwalla after yesterday's Court of Appeal ruling, which ordered her to pay 60% of the legal costs of Arron Banks, the UK businessman who accused her of defamation. Read our full statement👇https://t.co/TEoB1i6UAa
— IPI – The Global Network for Independent Media (@globalfreemedia) May 19, 2023
Independent media outlet opendemocracy.net also wrote a long article expressing solidarity with the Guardian journalist.
Full solidarity with Carole Cadwalladr https://t.co/19vmCFGzTT
— openDemocracy (@openDemocracy) May 19, 2023
Independent ‘journalism’ organisation The Citizens also published an article in support of Carole Cadwalladr. “A dark day for democracy and truth-telling, indeed. Support @carolecadwalla by contributing to her crowdfunder here: https://gofundme.com/f/democracy-the-fight-back.”
A dark day for democracy and truth-telling, indeed.
— The Citizens (@allthecitizens) May 18, 2023
Support @carolecadwalla by contributing to her crowdfunder here: https://t.co/HRZDPqJsYG https://t.co/yRtkBGNHca
It’s notable here how many Cadwalladr supporters portrayed the journalist as a victim on social media, lamenting how she had set up a crowdfunding campaign to pay her legal bills. Many came forward to share the crowdfunding link to support her.
🔥🔥 Here is the link to support the crowdfunding for brilliant @carolecadwalla– a courageous role model for all journalists and reporters. via @allthecitizens 👇👇https://t.co/dFa01ldPeO
— Jacob Öberg (@Jacobbe79601492) May 19, 2023
Journalist Carole Cadwalladr has been ordered to pay 60% of Arron Banks’s libel trial costs, said to be more than £1 million. Here's the crowdfunding link to help her.https://t.co/d7WTahRsSQ
— Brexit Bin 🇪🇺🇬🇧🇩🇪🕊🇺🇦 #BrexitReality (@BrexitBin) May 18, 2023
