Superb article Shane. With regards to the following

I remember the good old days when there was something called the Burden of Proof:

I am not sure about other countries, though I did write an article on my old deliberator account, showing the UK changed the law in 2001 or so, from actual (or factual) to perceived, so if someone says something about someone else, and they take it the wrong way, they can take action on how "they perceive" it to be, rather than how it actually (factually) is.

This law change has made the behaviour of some people now able to react like your unfortunate encounter above.