New Delhi: An Australian court has ruled that the country’s news publishers are responsible for comments made by their readers in response to content posted on their corporate Facebook pages.
Hearing the case on Wednesday, Reuters reported, the high court dismissed an appeal against a previous ruling that found merit in a defamation suit filed by Dylan Woller, a youth detainee whose abuse at a youth detention center The case had attracted widespread media attention. .
Voller filed suit against several publishers, including Fairfax Media, which published the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, owned by broadcaster Nine.
In his appeal, he stated that several third-party Facebook users made derogatory comments after stories about him were posted on the Facebook pages of news publications. He argued that news outlets, as publishers, were liable for action.
After a court accepted the lawsuit, the media outlets filed an appeal, arguing that they only managed a Facebook page on which third parties publish their content.
However, the High Court dismissed the appeal and ordered the publishers to pay the cost.
The court said in its ruling, “The acts of (media companies) assist, encourage the posting of comments by third-party Facebook users, and thereby provide the publishers of those comments.”
“This is a common-sense decision that is in line with the law for a long time on the issue of publication,” Reuters quoted Woller’s lawyer, O’Brien Criminal and Civil Solicitor, as saying after the verdict.
The New South Wales Supreme Court will now determine whether the comments have indeed defamed Woller.
‘It will have effects’
Facebook, which now allows Page moderators to turn off comments on posts, did not do so at the time the comments in question were published.
Publishers have expressed dismay at the court’s decision.
“…what we post on social media in the future will have an impact,” a Nine spokesperson was quoted as saying in a Reuters report.
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, News Corp Australia executive chairman Michael Miller said the court’s decision was important to everyone maintaining public pages on the social media platform.
“They may be liable for comments posted by others on that page, even if they are unaware of those comments.”
.
Australia court finds news outlets liable for Facebook comments on their posts
New Delhi: An Australian court has ruled that the country’s news publishers are responsible for comments made by their readers in response to content posted on their corporate Facebook pages.
Hearing the case on Wednesday, Reuters reported, the high court dismissed an appeal against a previous ruling that found merit in a defamation suit filed by Dylan Woller, a youth detainee whose abuse at a youth detention center The case had attracted widespread media attention. .
Voller filed suit against several publishers, including Fairfax Media, which published the Sydney Morning Herald newspaper, owned by broadcaster Nine.
In his appeal, he stated that several third-party Facebook users made derogatory comments after stories about him were posted on the Facebook pages of news publications. He argued that news outlets, as publishers, were liable for action.
After a court accepted the lawsuit, the media outlets filed an appeal, arguing that they only managed a Facebook page on which third parties publish their content.
However, the High Court dismissed the appeal and ordered the publishers to pay the cost.
The court said in its ruling, “The acts of (media companies) assist, encourage the posting of comments by third-party Facebook users, and thereby provide the publishers of those comments.”
“This is a common-sense decision that is in line with the law for a long time on the issue of publication,” Reuters quoted Woller’s lawyer, O’Brien Criminal and Civil Solicitor, as saying after the verdict.
The New South Wales Supreme Court will now determine whether the comments have indeed defamed Woller.
‘It will have effects’
Facebook, which now allows Page moderators to turn off comments on posts, did not do so at the time the comments in question were published.
Publishers have expressed dismay at the court’s decision.
“…what we post on social media in the future will have an impact,” a Nine spokesperson was quoted as saying in a Reuters report.
Speaking to the Sydney Morning Herald, News Corp Australia executive chairman Michael Miller said the court’s decision was important to everyone maintaining public pages on the social media platform.
“They may be liable for comments posted by others on that page, even if they are unaware of those comments.”
.