David Beckham has - unusually - been put on the defensive, but this time it's against an opponent faster than any he has encountered on the football pitch.

A rumour about the England captain spread at lightning speed since it first appeared on a celebrity gossip website.

Popbitch: The source of many a tabloid "scoop"

The site, Popbitch, has withdrawn the story and the football star has since threatened legal action. But not before its many readers had digested - and then passed on - the mischievous titbits.

For such stories - which may play fast and loose with the facts - can prove the most compelling to share. And thanks to the internet, the gossip frenzy can span the globe in the time it takes to forward an e-mail on and on.

Since the Becks story surfaced, much hand-wringing about the unfiltered nature of the internet has played out in the newspapers. Has the time come, many of them have asked, for more regulation?

We're too willing to believe what we read

Bill Thompson

Technology consultant Bill Thompson says no. What is needed is for readers to be more discriminating in what they take to be true.

"We tend to believe the things we see on screen, because until quite recently it was only big corporations that could put information on screen - and if, say, Ceefax got it wrong, the BBC would be in big trouble.

"Today anyone can post information, but we're still willing to believe what we read on screen."

Malice aforethought

It may be instructive that the Popbitch motto is "unfounded rumour peddled as truth" - a motto that could well be shared by any number of imitators. For anyone can post stories on its message board.

Sometimes internet gossip is bang on the money

Those with no basis in fact are spread by people known as "trolls"; these lies take on a life of their own online. The more the story gets repeated, the more people think there's something in it.

Sometimes the motives of the poster are questionable, Mr Thompson says. "Some time ago, a fake news site went up, designed to move the price of specific shares."

Conspiracy theorists have come up with an explanation for the Beckham rumour too - that it was posted by Liverpool fans keen to unsettle Manchester United ahead of a crucial clash. If so, it backfired - their team lost 2-1 on Sunday.

Nonetheless, it got people talking about the state of the Beckhams' marriage. "If it was posted in malice, it was a very productive strategy because everyone has fallen for it," says Mr Thompson.

Viral gossip

This is because each and every person who comes across a compelling bit of innuendo is keen to repeat it. Thus gossip spreads on the web much like a virus, albeit more like a hoax virus e-mail than a computer virus.

"When we have information that will either protect or amuse, we like to pass it on to our friends. It makes us feel important," Mr Thompson says.

"With hoax virus e-mails, instructions to delete important files get passed around our networks; with gossip, damaging stories do the rounds."

Talk of Sven got swapped by the rape claims

In October, Ulrika Jonnson said she had been raped. Although she never named her alleged attacker - and no charges have been laid - his identity soon cropped up on message boards and was the topic of much water-cooler conversation even before it hit the headlines.

Ordinary folk too have fallen foul of a "gossip virus". Whereas once one's exploits might have been confided to the office rumour mill, today such tittle-tattle can amuse strangers at home and abroad. Remember the e-mail about the sexual behaviour of a group of lawyers?

Bill Thompson says efforts to make the net more secure need to be matched by efforts to be more "socially secure" ourselves.

"We should have more sense about what we read online, otherwise this will get us into more and more trouble."

Add your comments on this story by using the form below.

"It's led newspapers to ask if the internet has gone too far" - hmm, pot, kettle, black?
Eccles

Versions of the story have cropped up on the Popbitch messageboard for months, and always been howled down by regulars as unreliable. It had already reached the stage of being recognised as an urban myth. The Beckhams' legal threats gave new life to a rumour that was dying a natural death.
Toni, UK

"It must be true, it was in the papers" has been replaced with "It must be true, it was on the net." How many of us received the e-mail about Bill Gates sharing his fortune (yuh right!) with the immortal header "This is true - it was on the news last night!" Never seemed to occur to any of my friends that they themselves hadn't seen or heard it; they just took it as gospel, and sent it on.
Dan Thurgood, UK

What truly amazes me is how unquestioning people seem to be about "sources". Some intelligent friends gleefully relayed the Beckham story to me citing that it HAD to be true because someone at work knows someone who once met a Sun journalist who said it was true. No-one seems to examine the facts as they stand. I think therefore the internet is making people lazy for their gossip, and magazines such as Heat put too high a value on such snippits anyway!
Matthew Baty, London, UK

By refuting a rumour that most people had no idea was going on, the Beckhams merely brought the whole thing to everyone's attention.
Mel, London

It is time for website owners to take legal responsibility for things posted on their sites and consider carefully whether messages are suitable for publication or not. Yes, this will slow down the internet. But privacy of the individual is more important than that.
Mike, UK

I'm a regular poster on Popbitch. Celebrities should be prepared for rumours to start as they thrive on the cult of personality. It is the very interest in celebrities, that they need to stay rich and famous, that causes rumour to surface in the first place.
billieevans

Just because someone is exceedingly skilled at sport should not mean that they should be willing to accept a bunch of nobodies spreading potentially damaging lies about them.
James B, UK

I work in IT industry and see this kinda thing every week. If an e-mail is received and has a bit of gossip - especially about someone in the public eye - it gets spread quicker. This is no different to people talking about stars - you can shut down websites but more will appear.
Simon Tollick, Britain

I treat everything I read on the internet with a whole lorry load of salt unless I trust the source. While I'll trust what I read on the BBC news website, I would be far more sceptical about "Bob's News"! It's just commonsense.
Antony, UK

Versions of the Beckham rumour have cropped up on the Popbitch message boards for months, & always been howled down by regulars as unreliable. It had already reached the stage of being recognised as an urban myth. The Beckhams heavy handed legal threats gave new life to a rumour that was dying a natural death.
Toni, UK

Believe nothing you're told, and only half of what you see.
Adrian, UK

Those that think the answer is to filter the net are fooling themselves. What next? A team of crack lible lawyers trawling pubs for slanderous gossip? Popbitch is the net equivalent of pub talk - harmless fun until someone is stupid enough to print it in a national newspaper and give it credence.
Elliot, UK

Are we going to ban old ladies talking at bus stops too?
Joe Murphy, UK