When Houston restaurant patron posted a tweet calling the nearby bartender a “twerp” and ending her message with a hashtagged vulgarity, she probably knew the note would raise a few eyebrows. But the last response she likely expected to receive was a phone call from the general manager asking her to leave immediately. Despite the knocks he has received for the decision, he says he refuses to allow his employees to be “bullied,” and did not hesitate in making that call.

The incident served to reignite the debate over what constitutes libel and slander in the digital era, an issue that Peter S. Vogel, co-chair of the Internet, eCommerce and Technology Industry team at Gardere Wynne Sewell LLP, says will be difficult to resolve.