Reuters

Supermodel Naomi Campbell

For famous people under the media spotlight, dealing with inaccuracies in a story can be an ongoing problem. Obtaining a correction from a newspaper can be difficult, but getting one from the seemingly anonymous and unaccountable websites that repeat the story can be even harder.

Now salvation may be at hand for aggrieved public figures. Launched this week, the website ICorrect.com allows people and organisations to correct any information about them.

The site was set up by Sir David Tang, a Hong Kong-born entrepreneur. “I realised that… we have created a cyber world, which is much larger than our Earth and is expanding like the sun,” said Tang. “The one extraordinary feature about this cyber world is that 99 percent of it is hearsay. I decided it might not be a bad idea to provide a website exclusively for people who want to set the record straight. Words from the horse’s mouth, as it were.”

But clearing your name doesn’t come cheap. It costs $1 500 (about R10 300) a year for individuals and $5 000 for businesses to be registered “correctors”. To confirm the identity of those wishing to correct, a letter from a lawyer or representative is needed.

Early entries on the site include corrections from people in the worlds of politics, celebrity, the arts and business.

Cherie Blair used the site to point out that a Daily Mail story suggesting she went on a shooting party with Saif Gaddafi, the son of the Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, was untrue.

The historian Niall Ferguson takes issue with a blog by the Nobel prize-winning economist Paul Krugman claiming he won an argument between them in Korea. In his correction, Ferguson writes: “So comprehensively did Krugman lose this exchange that one Korean newspaper ran the headline the next day: ‘‘A great Nobel Prize winner humiliated like a dog’’.

It appears Tang’s motivation to set up the site may stem partly from a desire to right untruths written about himself. He takes the Mail on Sunday to task for saying: “David Tang is a creep.”

“This,” he writes, “is greatly exaggerated.”

Naomi Campbell

Accusation from The Sun: “Naomi Campbell reckons Fifa was right to choose Russia to host the 2018 World Cup ahead of England. She said: ‘Russia is my adopted home and it will be great’.”

Correction: “I have never… expressed any opinion… about whether Fifa made the right choice. As someone who is proudly British, I totally supported my country and hoped it would be successful. My only comment was that, since Fifa has made the decision, I know Russia will make a great job of it.’’

Michael Caine

Accusation: “Not many people know that. For 40 years, I have been associated with these words.”

Correction: “I have never said ‘not many people know that”. Peter Sellers said it when he impersonated my voice on his telephone answering machine. I do not mind something clever being attributed to me, but I do mind something stupid that I did not say or do.”

Tommy Hilfiger

Accusation: Rumour has it that I claimed to not want black people wearing my clothes. I was (said) to have made this statement on Oprah. It led to accusations that have been equally hurtful and absurd such as me not liking Jewish people, Spanish people and those with brown skin.”

Correction: “These are untrue rumours. I only appeared on Oprah once when she invited me to rebuke the rumour. Oprah herself said: “This is a big fat lie!”

Jemima Khan

Accusation from various sources: Jemima Goldsmith changed her first name to the Muslim name Haiqa when she got married.

Correction: “I never changed my first name.” – The Independent