A United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia, has dismissed a defamation suit brought before it by the Member of Parliament for Assin Central against US-based Ghanaian journalist, Kevin Taylor and his media company, Loud silence.
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A fifteen-paged court document filed at the District Court said the MP’s suit was influenced by a series of “false and defamatory statements in a series of videos and an email correspondence published by Defendants (Kevin Taylor and Loud Silence Media) via Facebook, YouTube, and other social media platforms about Plaintiff.”
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It said the defendant, Kevin Taylor, and his organization had on several occasions referred to the plaintiff as a “murderer, drug dealer, and drug addict, thief, and green card fraudster”.
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The legislator sought seven (7) reliefs from the Virginia court, including an injunction prohibiting Kevin Taylor and his organization from posting on any media outlet any further defamatory remarks and an apology from the latter.
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The Amended Complaint does not plead any factual material that demonstrates Taylor’s disputed statements were published with actual malice.”
Further, the Amended Complaint does not plausibly state a claim under the Virginia Computer Crimes Act
The Plaintiff has 60 days to file a Second Amended Complaint if that filing would meet the requirements discussed in this Order,” the Court ruled.
