# 4 ARBELMUNGAN 453-497 (DO NOT DELETE) 12/4/2019 7:18 PM — one-page summary

**Paper ID:** `ssrn-3311527`
**Year:** 2019
**Author(s):** Yonathan Arbel
**SSRN:** https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3311527

## TL;DR

Professor Yonathan Arbel of the University of Alabama School of Law argues that expanding defamation law is misguided. He contends that such expansions overlook crucial "audience effects," where stricter laws can paradoxically harm reputations by making any remaining false statements appear more credible. This increased believability means attempts to fight "fake news" by strengthening defamation law could backfire. Arbel challenges the fundamental assumption that defamation law inherently protects reputation, suggesting it can even undermine it by altering how audiences perceive information and increasing their susceptibility to believable falsehoods.

## Keywords

contracts; AI; law

## Files

- Full text: `papers/ssrn-3311527/paper.txt`
- PDF: `papers/ssrn-3311527/paper.pdf`
- Summary (EN): `papers/ssrn-3311527/summary.md`
- Summary (ZH): `papers/ssrn-3311527/summary.zh.md`

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