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ACTUAL MALICE

1 definition found across Law Mind sources

actual malicenoun
Wiktionary (English) • 2026
Wiktionary contributors (https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/actual_malice#English) • CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) • via Kaikki (https://kaikki.org/dictionary/English/)
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In United States defamation law, the level of knowledge that must be demonstrated for a public figure to prevail as a plaintiff in a lawsuit for defamation; the defendant must have either known that information published about the plaintiff was false, or must have shown reckless disregard for the truth by not a making simple inquiry or investigation which would have disclosed it.

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