Substantial truth is a legal doctrine affecting libel and slander laws in common law jurisdictions such as the United States or the United Kingdom.Under the United States law, a statement cannot be held to be actionable as slanderous or libelous if the statement is true; the substantial truth doctrine extends this protection by holding that a statement with "slight inaccuracies of expression" do not make the alleged libel false.This doctrine is applied in matters in which truth is used as an absolute defense to a defamation claim brought against a public figure, but only false statements made with "actual malice" are subject to sanctions.