The Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce has filed a lawsuit against an unknown person using the Internet screen name "Elmer Fudd," claiming the person posted false and defamatory information about the organization on discussion boards hosted by The Sun News.
The posts, which appeared on the comment sections of several stories last month, claimed the Horry County Sheriff's Department had conducted raids at the chamber and other businesses. The posts also claimed that computers were seized from those businesses, although a sheriff's department spokesman said no raids occurred and no computers were seized.
"The claims were absolutely false," said Cherie Blackburn, a lawyer representing the chamber of commerce. Blackburn termed the posts "a vicious cyber defamation campaign" in court documents filed Friday in Conway.
Blackburn said several concerned people called chamber officials last week after reading the posts, prompting the organization to file a lawsuit to refute the rumors.
"It's something the chamber felt like they had to react to," Blackburn said. "They couldn't allow the rumors to go unchallenged."
Blackburn said her office plans to file a subpoena this week to learn the identity of "Elmer Fudd." The lawsuit seeks unspecified monetary damages.
Read full story [Sun News]
Grow your chamber - visit ChamberMax
Comments