No, I'm talking about libel laws. From another comment lower down:
"There are two versions of defamation, libel and slander. Libel is when the defamation is written down (including email, bulletin boards and websites), and slander is when the incident relates to words spoken."
Just to clarify, from Wikipedia:
Defamation—also called calumny, vilification, traducement, slander (for transitory statements), and libel (for written, broadcast, or otherwise published words)—is the communication of a statement that makes a claim, expressly stated or implied to be factual, that may give an individual, business, product, group, government, or nation a negative image
Under the UK laws, fair comment is a valid defence. Again from Wikipedia:
This defence arises if the defendant shows that the statement was a view that a reasonable person could have held, even if they were motivated by dislike or hatred of the plaintiff.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_defamation_law#Fair_com...
So it's not like you can't comment on anything.
I think less interesting conversations would happen if this wasn't true.
The libel laws have been around a long time, and apparently from 2006, writings on the internet have been seen as being public enough for prosecutions to take place. Have you noticed a drop-off in internet conversations from British contributors since then?
Personally, I'm happy that I don't usually have to go double check every single fact I assert on forums like this one. That does mean that I'm wrong occasionally, but I'm happy to be corrected by others. I think less interesting conversations would happen if this wasn't true.