A PE teacher, Cheryl Bennett, was subjected to severe online harassment after a doctored video falsely depicted her using racist language. Millions viewed the manipulated footage, which led to her receiving death threats and being forced into hiding. Bennett successfully sued the lawyer who shared the video, Akhmed Yakoob, for defamation and breach of data protection. The case highlights the dangers of misinformation and deepfakes in the digital age.
Cheryl Bennett has been paid substantial damages after fake clip taken when she was canvassing for Labour was viewed millions of timesA teacher subjected to a torrent of abuse after doctored footage falsely alleged she used a racist slur while canvassing for the Labour party has said she was forced into hiding and feared it would ruin her career.
He posted the video alongside a clip of himself saying: “Those who are still in the Labour party, now is your time to leave.” He also shared Bennett’s name and place of work.she had been paid “substantial” damages and costs from Yakoob after she filed legal action for defamation and a breach of her data protection rights.
“This kind of thing has obviously happened in previous elections abroad, but I don’t really think it’s ever happened in the UK, so to that extent, it is a precedent. This settlement does show the risk to people of misusing things.” Bennett said she was inundated with messages after the video went viral. One message from a pupil at her school read: “I didn’t expect a teacher of your standard to be discriminative of races.”
UK Law Social Media DEFAMATION DEEPFAKES MISINFORMATION SOCIAL MEDIA RACIST ABUSE
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