Australia's High Court affirms earlier rulings that media companies can be held responsible for Facebook comments posted under stories on their Facebook Pages
The High Court outcome locks in the position established by the earlier appeals-court ruling on defamatory Facebook comments: publishers, rather than Facebook alone, carry responsibility for comments beneath stories posted to their own Pages. It matters because a publisher’s social distribution channel now also carries a direct defamation exposure.
The practical response surfaced quickly in related coverage, with CNN restricting access to its Australian Facebook Pages, showing that limiting participation can become an immediate risk-control measure rather than merely a community-management choice.
First-order effects
The Sydney Morning Herald and the other appealing media companies remain exposed to claims arising from comments on their Facebook Pages, despite not authoring those comments.
Australian news publishers using Facebook Pages must treat comment access and moderation as part of their publishing risk, as CNN’s later Page restrictions illustrate.
Second-order effects
Facebook’s Australian news Pages become less valuable as distribution venues when publishers restrict access to avoid the liability confirmed by the High Court.
Australian online-defamation rules may increasingly turn on an actor’s role in making third-party material available, encouraging platforms and publishers to define more tightly who controls audience interaction.
The trend: The case is part of a broader shift toward assigning legal responsibility for user-generated content according to how actively a service or publisher facilitates its publication.
Hey presumably this also extends to groups: what are the implications for non-media owners of Facebook groups/pages (eg will those admins now be responsible/facing defo actions when a fight erupts between members who post defamatory stuff about each other?)https://www.abc.net.au/…
Imagine w/o Section 230 the catastrophe of US courts weighing the liability of users at the moment social media companies decided users should also be moderators. https://twitter.com/...
The High Court has ruled that media outlets are legally responsible as “publishers” for third parties' comments on their Facebook pages, in a decision with implications for all Facebook users. https://www.smh.com.au/... via @smh #auslaw
“The court found that, by creating a public Facebook page and posting content, the [news] outlets had facilitated, encouraged and thereby assisted the publication of comments from third-party Facebook users, and they were, therefore, publishers of those comments.” https://twitter…
Surely Government can simply amend the wording of the relevant defamation legislation to circumvent this? Our defamation laws are among the worst in the World and are in desperate need of a complete overhaul. I'm sure we had an AG that was intending on fixing that? https://twitte…
Will this all mean more work for already stretched social media mangers? Absolutely. Does it require really specific training? Of course, moderation is actually a highly skilled and contextual job. Will mods need more support? You bet 4/
@MWhitbourn ... Not all FB users. Being defamed by someone with a few dozen followers and little reach is not the same as being publicly smeared and abused via posts from biggest news media companies in Australia. Both companies have histories of not wanting to pay for social med…
Another shocker for free speech. Another rich income stream for the show ponies of defamation law. Dylan Voller deserves justice but High Court ruling means publishers can be sued for comments made on their feed by anon Twitter or Facebook posters? https://www.abc.net.au/...
No, that media outlet isn't “silencing your opinion because it doesn't fit their agenda,” your comment has left them legally vulnerable. https://www.abc.net.au/...
WTH from down under. I'm going to call it a night and pretend I didn't see this until tomorrow morning. I do hope to then wake up knowing it was just a bad dream that media companies are the ones responsible for toxic sludge on their Facebook pages. https://twitter.com/...
Voiceover Man: “In a world without section 230, in a place without the First Amendment, a place known to others as ‘Australia’ ... media companies are liable for the comments that users post on their stories on Facebook.” https://apnews.com/... /cc @mmasnick