Defamation and Online Harassment Laws in North Dakota

North Dakota's Century Code defines defamation as either libel or slander. Libel is a false, unprivileged publication in a fixed form, such as writing, printing or a picture, that exposes a person to hatred, contempt or ridicule, causes them to be shunned, or tends to harm them in their occupation; slander is any other false, unprivileged publication that falls into listed categories or causes actual damage. The state Supreme Court has stressed that a statement must be false to be defamatory and that privileged statements do not create liability.

Sources1N.D. Cent. Code §§ 14-02-02, 14-02-03, 14-02-042Riemers v. Grand Forks Herald, 688 N.W.2d 167 (N.D. 2004)

North Dakota still has a criminal defamation law: willfully publishing defamatory matter about a living or deceased natural person, or knowingly arranging or helping with its publication, is a class A misdemeanor. The statute only covers statements made public with actual malice or reckless disregard of the truth, and it is a defense that the statement is true or was a privileged communication.

Source3N.D. Cent. Code § 12.1-15-01

A lawsuit for libel or slander must be filed within two years after the claim arises. Under North Dakota's version of the Uniform Single Publication Act, a single publication, such as one edition of a newspaper or one broadcast, supports only one claim covering damages in every jurisdiction. The deadline is paused while the publisher has time to respond to a request for correction or clarification.

Sources4N.D. Cent. Code § 28-01-18(1)1N.D. Cent. Code § 14-02-105N.D. Cent. Code § 32-43-03(5)

Related guide: Statute of limitations for defamation in every state

North Dakota's slander statute lists the kinds of false spoken statements that are actionable on their own: accusing someone of a crime or of having been indicted, convicted or punished for one, claiming they currently have an infectious, contagious or loathsome disease, harming them in their office, profession, trade or business, or imputing impotence or lack of chastity. Other false spoken statements count as slander only if they cause actual damage.

Source1N.D. Cent. Code § 14-02-04

Related guide: What defamation per se means

North Dakota does not have an anti-SLAPP statute. A court must award costs and reasonable attorney fees to the winning party when it finds a civil claim was frivolous and that party raised the issue in its responsive pleading, but this is a general rule rather than a protection aimed at lawsuits over speech.

Sources6Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Anti-SLAPP Legal Guide: North Dakota7N.D. Cent. Code § 28-26-01(2)

Related guide: Anti-SLAPP laws by state

North Dakota has adopted the Uniform Correction or Clarification of Defamation Act, which covers all kinds of publications, including electronic transmissions. A defamation claim can go forward only if the person made a timely, adequate written request for correction or clarification that identifies the statement and says why it is defamatory and false (a complaint with that information can count as the request), or the publisher already corrected it; waiting more than 90 days after learning of the publication without a good-faith request limits recovery to provable economic loss. If the publisher makes a timely and sufficient correction, generally within 45 days of the request, or makes a qualifying offer to correct that the person refuses, recovery is limited to provable economic loss (plus certain litigation expenses after a refused offer).

Source5N.D. Cent. Code §§ 32-43-02, 32-43-03, 32-43-05, 32-43-06, 32-43-08

Truth is a defense: the North Dakota Constitution says truth is a sufficient defense in libel cases when the matter is published with good motives and for justifiable ends, and a statement must be false to be defamatory. Statements made in official duties, in legislative or judicial proceedings, in communications without malice between people with a shared interest, and in fair and true reports of public proceedings made without malice are privileged. A public figure, including a limited-purpose public figure who takes part in a public controversy, must show actual malice.

Sources8N.D. Const. art. I, § 41N.D. Cent. Code §§ 14-02-03, 14-02-052Riemers v. Grand Forks Herald, 688 N.W.2d 167 (N.D. 2004)6Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, Anti-SLAPP Legal Guide: North Dakota (summarizing Riemers v. Mahar, 748 N.W.2d 714 (N.D. 2008))

North Dakota's stalking law makes it a crime to intentionally engage in a course of conduct (two or more acts) aimed at a specific person that frightens, intimidates or harasses them, serves no legitimate purpose and would cause a reasonable person fear, intimidation or harassment. It also covers unauthorized tracking of a person's movements or location by GPS or other electronic means. Stalking is a class A misdemeanor, or a class C felony for repeat offenders or when it violates a protection order.

Source9N.D. Cent. Code § 12.1-17-07.1

Related guide: Cyberstalking laws explained

Under North Dakota's harassment statute, it is a crime to act with intent to frighten or harass another person by, among other things, sending a written or electronic threat to harm someone, their reputation or their property, sending repeated electronic communications with no legitimate purpose, or communicating a falsehood in writing or electronically that causes mental anguish. A written or electronic threat is a class A misdemeanor, and most other forms are class B misdemeanors; an electronic offense can be prosecuted where the message was sent or where it was received.

Source9N.D. Cent. Code § 12.1-17-07

Related guide: Online harassment laws explained

The harassment statute also makes it a crime to share someone's personal identifying information in writing, electronically, or by posting it to a public website or online forum, when done with intent to frighten or harass that person. This is generally a class B misdemeanor.

Source9N.D. Cent. Code § 12.1-17-07(2)(e), (3)

Related guide: Is doxxing illegal?

Knowingly sharing an intimate image of someone, including a computer-generated image, is a class A misdemeanor when the sharer knows the person did not consent, the image was made or shared in circumstances where the person expected privacy, and the person suffers actual emotional distress or harm. Separately, North Dakota's Uniform Civil Remedies for Unauthorized Disclosure of Intimate Images Act lets the depicted person sue for damages (or statutory damages of up to $10,000 per defendant), exemplary damages, attorney fees and injunctive relief, generally within six years.

Sources9N.D. Cent. Code § 12.1-17-07.210N.D. Cent. Code §§ 32-49-02, 32-49-05, 32-49-06