High Court Ruling Holds Media Liable For Social Media Defamation
Following a recent High Court Ruling on September 8, 2021, Australian media publishers can be held responsible for defamatory comments that readers leave on their social media pages.
The decision holds far-reaching consequences for Australians; (where 80% of the population are social media users), and encapsulates any online activity made via web-based platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other website forums that incorporate comment sections for further discussion.
Anyone who runs a social media page can be theoretically sued over disparaging comments posted by readers or affiliated group members – even when they are unaware of the comments when posted.
In other words, if you post content onto your social media page and encourage the invitation of other users to make comments considered slanderous, you are legally labelled as the “primary publisher” of those comments and can be sued, thanks to the judicial decision.
On The Record presenter Allan Boyd is joined in the studio with David Rolph, who is a Professor of Law from the University of Sydney. Together they discuss how the High Court arrived to the decision, along with the implications involved with what the grounds are for identifying defamatory media posts, and whether there are any defences available in light of defamation occurring through an online domain.
