Gina Ford, Mumsnet & Spartacus

Perhaps foolishly, the Ministry of Truth (aka Spartacus) republishes an article from the Times by Freedom of Information campaigner Heather Brooke (also available on Heather’s own blog, but no longer at the Times website) regarding Gina Ford, described by her lawyer, Tony Jaffa, as ‘a highly successful author… [who] has published a series of very popular books on baby- and child-care throughout the world’. Which I’m sure is true.

But Gina Ford is increasingly famous as the woman who settled a libel action against Mumsnet, after defamatory comments were posted by the site’s users. It’s reported that even though the offensive comments were removed in a little more than 24 hours (which Gina Ford denies) and Mumsnet banned discussion of Gina Ford and her methods, she still demanded the website be closed (lifting the threat after five days). Although Tony Jaffa paints a slightly different picture arguing (reasonably on the face of it) that ‘Websites like Mumsnet are not above the law’ and that it all boils down to Mumsnet not accepting responsibility for the comments it had published.

I’ve no idea what horrible things were said about Gina Ford (and I imagine they were pretty awful). If Gina Ford and her legal team were attempting to suppress debate on the legal issues the case raises that would be inexcusable, but that is not what prompted the Times to remove Heather Brooke’s article. At no point does Heather Brooke repeat the alleged defamatory remarks that were posted to Mumsnet, but her words have given rise to fresh allegations of libel.

My view is that this is an incredibly ill-advised strategy and it seems to me that the public now has the impression that she is litigious and aggressive. Her lawyers may have ensured that Gina Ford’s reputation will not be defined by deleted accusations from anonymous Mumsnet users, but it seems she will be remembered for a long running legal tiff. It’s time Gina Ford accepted Mumsnet’s apology and put it all behind her.

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