{"id":112044,"date":"2026-01-21T14:36:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T14:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=112044"},"modified":"2026-01-21T14:36:00","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T14:36:00","slug":"allegedly-does-not-protect-against-lawsuit-lawyer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=112044","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Allegedly\u2019 does not protect against lawsuit\u2014Lawyer"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n \t<\/i> Read Time:<\/span>3 Minute, 47 Second <\/div>\n\n <\/div>
\n

In a fast-moving media and social media space, the word \u201callegedly\u201d seems to have become a popular legal \u2018safety\u2019 net. It often appears in news reports, Facebook posts, TikTok, X threads, and comment sections whenever sensitive, defamatory, or controversial claims are made.<\/p>\n

Even though many believe that once the word is added, legal responsibility, such as a defamation lawsuit,t disappears, legal practitioner Dennis Akwaboah says that belief is wrong.<\/p>\n

In an interview with The Mirror in Accra last Wednesday, the Associate with Sustenerri PRUC warned that the careless use of the word \u201callegedly\u201d could, in fact, land one in jail or be the cause of a hefty fine.<\/p>\n

What \u201callegedly\u201d really means<\/h2>\n

Mr Akwaboah explains that \u201callegedly\u201d is a term adopted in legal practice to indicate that an accusation has been made but has not yet been proven.<\/p>\n

However, he said the problem began when people used the word without understanding when and how it should apply.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are the one saying it and nobody else is saying it, then you cannot hide behind \u2018allegedly\u2019. There must be attribution and some form of verification,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Journalists, bloggers, and content creators\u00a0<\/h2>\n

The lawyer noted that journalists, bloggers and content creators, in particular, must be careful with how they use the word. He noted that many media reports relied heavily on \u2018allegedly\u2019 instead of clearly stating who made a claim.<\/p>\n

He explained that it was better to attribute sources rather than use \u2018allegedly.\u2019\u201cIf it is the police making the statement, say directly that the police said it. If it is from a charge sheet, government official, institution, hospital records, eyewitness accounts or wherever, just mention them. Once you fail to attribute it, it looks like you are the one making the statement,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf someone reads it and believes you are the one saying it, then they have a cause of action against you,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Mr Akwaboah expressed concern about the excessive use of the word by social media users and the general public, who relied on \u2018allegedly\u2019 to comment freely on rumours and accusations.<\/p>\n

He said the word was often used in comment sections as a shield, especially when people were making serious claims about others.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople comment on posts and then add \u2018allegedly,\u2019 as if that removes responsibility,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cYou cannot avoid liability by hiding behind someone else\u2019s accusation.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to him, even when someone else made a claim, a person who would repeat it must clearly state who made it.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf Mahama said something, then say Mahama said it. Don\u2019t just say \u2018allegedly\u2019 and move on,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

Proper use<\/p>\n

The lawyer clarified that in legal practice, the word was used because of the principle that every person was presumed innocent until proven guilty.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn court, nobody is guilty until the court says so. That is why lawyers use \u2018allegedly\u2019 when referring to accusations against their clients,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

He explained that before a court made a final decision, facts were not settled. In such cases, the word helped reflect that uncertainty.<\/p>\n

However, Mr Akwaboah warned against using \u2018allegedly\u2019 to describe events that were already known to have happened.<\/p>\n

He used the example of a stabbing incident. \u201cIf someone has been stabbed and taken to the hospital, instead of saying the person was allegedly stabbed, say where the information is coming from,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat \u2018allegedly\u2019 does in this case is throw doubt on the occurrence of an event. If everyone knows it happened and you still use \u2018allegedly\u2019, you are misleading people,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

He added that if it turned out the event did happen, then you were the one who lied to the public.<\/p>\n

No specific law<\/h2>\n

When asked about the specific law that backed the use of the word, Mr Akwaboah said there was no specific statute in Ghana which governed the word \u201callegedly\u201d, but clear principles existed.<\/p>\n

He pointed to the 1992 Constitution, which guaranteed the presumption of innocence.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat constitutional principle allows us to say someone is accused but not yet proven guilty,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n

Despite the risks, Mr Akwaboah noted that Ghana generally had a culture that rarely sued.<\/p>\n

He added that our society often discouraged people from suing, even when they felt wronged, with the usual, \u201cleave it to God\u201d. As such, defamatory lawsuits are few.<\/p>\n

He said that even though he had not personally experienced someone being taken to court for using \u2018allegedly\u2019 wrongly, he believed education on the issue was necessary, especially as online commentary grew.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n
\n \n
\n \n \"Happy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Happy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sad\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sad <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Excited\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Excited <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Sleepy\"\n <\/a>\n
\n Sleepy <\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n \n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Angry\"\n <\/a>\n
Angry<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n \n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n
\n \n \"Surprise\"\n <\/a>\n
Surprise<\/div>\n
\n 0<\/span>\n 0<\/span> %<\/span>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\"\u2018Allegedly\u2019In a fast-moving media and social media space, the word \u201callegedly\u201d seems to have become a popular legal \u2018safety\u2019 net. It often appears in news reports, Facebook posts, TikTok, X threads, and comment sections whenever sensitive, defamatory, or controversial claims are made.<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15703,7813,5521,1883,117,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112044","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-allegedly","category-lawsuit","category-lawyer","category-national","category-news","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112044","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=112044"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112044\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=112044"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=112044"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=112044"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}