Actual Malice
The legal standard requiring public officials and public figures to prove a speaker knew a statement was false or acted with reckless disregard for its truth.
Actual malice is the heightened fault standard that public officials and public figures must meet to win a defamation lawsuit under New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964). To prove actual malice, a plaintiff must show by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant made the defamatory statement:
1. With knowledge that the statement was false, or 2. With reckless disregard for whether the statement was true or false.
Reckless disregard requires that the defendant actually entertained serious doubts about the truth of the statement — it is a subjective standard, not an objective one.
Actual malice is a distinctly American standard; most other countries apply lower fault standards to defamation claims by public figures. The standard was designed to create 'breathing space' for robust public debate about government and public affairs, accepting that some false statements would go uncompensated in order to protect vigorous press freedom.
The actual malice standard does not apply to private figures, who need only prove negligence in most states.