Media outlets allowing defamatory comments can be sued, says top Australia court

The High Court dismissed an argument by some of Australia's largest media organisations that for people to be publishers, they must be aware of the defamatory content.

In what could be a turning point in the usage guidelines of the social media platforms, the highest Australian court has said that the defamatory comments on the social media pages of the media outlets is their responsibility. This may pave the way for similar rulings in other countries as well. Australia's highest court on Wednesday made a landmark ruling that media outlets are 'publishers' of allegedly defamatory comments posted by third parties on their official Facebook pages. The High Court dismissed an argument by some of Australia's largest media organisations--Fairfax Media Publications, Nationwide News and Australian News Channel-- that for people to be publishers, they must be aware of the defamatory content and intend to convey it. The court found in a 5-2 majority decision that by facilitating and encouraging the comments, the companies had participated in their communication. The decision opens the media organisations to be sued for defamation by former juvenile detainee Dylan Voller.