DJ Snails wins $1.5 million in defamation case

Per Canadian media reports, Canadian Dj Snails sued Michaela Higgins who had created an Instagram account ‘@evidenceagainstsnails’ which reposted claims that the dj had assaulted a woman.

Snails, aka Frédérik Durand, was awarded a total of $1.5 million in damages.

Durand said in a French interview with CTV News Montreal:

“It destroyed a big part of my career, of my personal life. It impacted my mental health. It affected a lot of things, my family, my girlfriend. There wasn’t a single area that it didn’t affect.”

The case took place in the province of Alberta, Canada as Snails had booked shows that were cancelled due to the Instagram posts by Ms. Higgins.

In court, Ms. Higgins provided not statements or proof that the claims she posted on Instagram were true. Hence a summary judgement was made by the judge in favor of Durand.

The judge noted:

There appears to exist a common misconception amongst social media users that reposting defamatory content generated by others is a protected activity, under the doctrine of fair comment or otherwise. This misunderstanding should be corrected as firmly as possible.