Elon Musk wins Twitter defamation trial brought by caver Vernon Unsworth
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Elon Musk’s tweets calling caver Vernon Unsworth, who was involved in the rescue of 13 people from a cave in Thailand, a “pedo guy” do not meet the legal standard for defamation, a jury found Friday afternoon. As a result, Musk will not be liable for damages.
The standard in the case is recklessness, which means Musk didn’t check to see if what he was saying was true before he tweeted it. The jury had to be convinced by a preponderance of the evidence that this was true, a lower standard than “actual malice.” But ultimately, the jury found that Musk’s tweets not meet the legal standards for defamation.
Leaving the courtroom, Musk told reporters, “my faith in humanity is restored.” His attorney, Alex Spiro, said, “The jury did the right…
