I am starting up a new web site (MedfordSpeaks) and noticed that when a new user account is created the new user is presented with a screen that talks about slander. So, I wondered what slander meant and I found a nice Wikipedia entry about Slander and Libel.
Almost all legal systems, including those of the United States, Scotland, and England and Wales, require in some situations that the subject of the communication prove, in a civil court, that the defendant made the statement with “malice”, meaning either believing it was false or with “reckless disregard” for whether it was false. This is known as “qualified privilege”; a typical example is a complaint of professional misconduct.