Nardello & Co. were appointed to lead the investigation to unmask the operator of Tattle Life, a controversial, anonymous UK gossip website that was used to defame celebrities, public figures, and associated companies.
With upwards of 12 million viewers per month, the Tattle Life site generated significant revenue for the operator. Years of attempts by various parties to identify the operator had been unsuccessful, with many international and UK media outlets reporting on the anonymity of the operator and the harmful effects of the content propagated by the website.
After close study of disparate fragments of the multiple online identities, aliases, and personae behind which the operator hid for over two decades, the Nardello & Co. team unmasked him, building a compelling picture of the operator’s identity and control of the platform. Following submission of Nardello & Co.’s findings, the plaintiffs’ legal team at Gateley NI secured the largest libel damages award in Northern Ireland’s history.
This success has received significant media attention, including in the BBC, The Guardian, The Irish Times, The Daily Mail, The Telegraph, Cosmopolitan, and others. Read Alan and Finn’s insights in Cosmopolitan’s article: “Tattle Life exposed: Meet the people who took down the toxic gossip forum’s secret publisher,” The Daily Mail: My life was ruined by Tattle Life: Trolls lied about my business and claimed they were stalking me in person – so I exposed the site’s gossip king, Spear’s: How the Tattle Life ruling backs HNW defamation claims, The Times: How one couple unmasked the biggest troll on the internet, The Journal: The full story of how the operator of gossip site Tattle Life was unmasked in an Irish court, and Goss.ie: Tattle Life investigators reveal how they FINALLY uncovered the identity of the toxic website’s owner | Goss.ie.
Legal Counsel Rory Lynch of Gateley NI said: “The anonymous defendant was infamous for his evasive tactics in avoiding being unmasked. Many had tried and failed in the past to identify him. He even posed as a woman called Helen. So I knew this case required the gold standard of intel. So I went straight to Nardello [& Co.] – the best of the best in that space. And they did not disappoint – Alan Kennedy and Finn Duggan in particular excelled.”
Plaintiff Neil Sands, technology entrepreneur, said: “We undertook this case not just for ourselves but for the many people who have suffered serious personal and professional harm through anonymous online attacks on this and other websites.”
“We believe in free speech, but not consequence-free speech – particularly where it is intended to, and succeeds in, causing real-world damage to people’s lives, livelihoods and mental health. We were in the fortunate position to be able to take the fight to these faceless operators, and it took a lot of time, effort and expense. Along the way we heard many stories from those damaged by the scurrilous commentary on the website and we are glad to be finally able to shine a light into this dark corner of the internet. What we have established today is that the internet is not an anonymous place.”
“The innovative technical and forensic work that Nardello & Co undertook was pivotal to building our case. Without their resourcefulness and diligence this would not have been possible.”
