False statement is one of the essential elements of defamation. To bring an action for defamation, the plaintiff should be able to prove that the statement was:

■false and defamatory,
■referred to the plaintiff,
■published to a third party, and
■negligent on the publisher’s part, if the statement is of public interest.

Under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution, as set forth by the U.S. Supreme Court in the 1964 Case, New York Times v Sullivan, where a public figure attempts to bring an action for defamation, the public figure must prove an additional element: That the statement was made with "actual malice". In translation, that means that the person making the statement knew the statement to be false, or issued the statement with reckless disregard as to its truth.

What is the point of this article if you were not going to break down the law with explantions. This article reads like a whole lot of puffery.