Study each of the following case. Answer the questions that follow with Yes or No.
Axeler and AvePoint are competitors producing software products, primarily for the military market. Axeler employees tweeted that “Ouch . . . Another #Federal Deployment Finds Out Where the Competition is Developed . . . #Red- Dragon.” Red Dragon referred to a symbol that is often used to refer to China. In addition, Axeler created a false LinkedIn account under the name Jim Chung, whose profile included that he was a “software engineer at AvePoint” and that he was located in Xinjiang, China. AvePoint sued for defamation based on these activities because its software products were not made in China and, in fact, were required to be manufactured in the United States as part of the military requirements. Are these statements and actions defamatory against AvePoint?
