The War On News

A record of government actions against journalism and fact-based reporting, from the first press laws to today

Claim

Claim 825

The Supreme Court held that a public official may not recover libel damages over criticism of official conduct unless the official proves the statement was made with actual malice, that is, with knowledge it was false or with reckless disregard for the truth.

Published 2026-09-26. Last reviewed 2026-09-26. 1 source.

Statement
The Supreme Court held that a public official may not recover libel damages over criticism of official conduct unless the official proves the statement was made with actual malice, that is, with knowledge it was false or with reckless disregard for the truth.
Field
effect_on_reporting
Value
Actual malice standard
About
incident 1960-us-montgomery-commissioner-sues-new-york-times-for-libel
Source
New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, 376 U.S. 254 (1964)
Publisher
Cornell Law School, Legal Information Institute
Method
court record
Checked
2026-09-26
Confidence
high
Status
current
Source date
1964-03-09

Quotation from the source

unless he proves that the statement was made with 'actual malice'—that is, with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not.