Can statements be protected by the use of the words “alleged”, “it is rumoured” or by use of quotation marks?
This answer is no. One cannot escape liability for defamation by putting the libel behind a prefix such as “I have been told that …” or “It is rumoured that …”, and then asserting that it was true that one had been told or that it was in fact being rumoured…. For the purpose of the law of libel, the hearsay statement is the same as a direct statement. (Lord Devlin in Lewis v. Daily Telegraph Ltd., [1963] 2 All E.R.
