Smear campaign

A Smear campaign is a term that is used to describe a person or group of people who creates a string of defamatory material to deliberately harm someone's reputation, usually with a severe aim. In most cases smear campaigns are run in the written form, hence using libel. Smear campaigns are often difficult to prosecute because, unlike a libel or defamation case, they are done knowing that they are breaking the law and hence are going to lengths to hide their identity and prevent prosecution. Smear campaigns are often associated with stalking or at least cyber stalking. With the advent of the internet, smear campaigns are much more common than they were previously, and represent probably the worst crimes that can be committed over the internet, and also the hardest to prosecute.