There have been a number of recent reports based on some research by Sweet & Maxwell into defamation cases. The Guardian headline is Rise in defamation cases involving blogs and Twitter while The Independent tells readers Online libel cases double. This does not give the full picture.

The figures are curious and their precise provenance unclear. The 'doubling' in the number of cases is said to be from seven to 16 – hardly a significant volume of litigation. The reports also state that the number of defamation cases has increased "up 4% to 86 compared to 83 cases the year before" and that there has been a big drop in "reported defamation cases involving celebrities, down 59% from 22 in 2009-10 to just nine in 2010-11."

These figures are difficult to assess. It may be that the evidence concerning 'Twitter and blogs' and 'celebrities' has been obtained by examining issued claim forms, but it difficult to know how accurate they are. Almost every 'media' defamation case now includes a claim for online publication – and, in some cases, articles are published only online – these are not cases involving 'Twitter and blogs'. The Guardian mentions the Interpal case – which concerned a website publication by the Sunday Express but no 'social media'. We are only aware of a handful of cases in which the only claim being made concerns Twitter, Facebook or a blog post.