Twitter filed an application asking the
However, Justice
There is no evidence as to the number of people in B.C. who read the tweets but it appears there are at least 500,000 Twitter users in the province, Myers wrote.
"In my view for the purposes of a jurisdictional challenge ... Giustra has gone far enough in demonstrating damage to his reputation here," the judge added.
Giustra, a member of the Order of B.C., has strong ties to the province and a significant local reputation to protect, Myers wrote, adding that many of the tweets were not only American-centric but referred to B.C. and
Under
"Whether the Canadian common law provides or should provide similar protection to a platform such as Twitter would be a matter for an ultimate trial," the judge wrote.
Twitter declined to comment on the ruling, which dealt only with jurisdiction and not with the substance of Giustra's civil claim.
Giustra said he hopes the lawsuit will help raise awareness of the "real harm to society" if social media platforms are not held responsible for the content published on their sites.
"I believe that words do matter, and recent events have demonstrated that hate speech can incite violence with deadly consequences," he said in a statement.
His lawyer,
None of the allegations contained in Giustra's lawsuit has been proven in court.
His statement of claim filed in
"Those publications included tweets stating that the plaintiff is 'corrupt,' a 'murderous thief,' a 'criminal,' and is involved in 'pizzagate,' '' it said, referring to the unfounded conspiracy theory that claimed
The statement of claim said Giustra sits on the board of the
The company said in its application to the court that it took action in response to several letters and emails sent by Giustra from 2016 through 2019 requesting that it remove certain tweets.
Twitter said that as of late
It also said it provides a "platform for expression'' and none of the tweets at issue in Giustra's claim were written or posted by the company.
Twitter argued that it has no employees or assets in B.C. or
Myers wrote in his ruling that Twitter did not disclose the direct or indirect ownership structure of Twitter Canada.
This report by
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