The little tweets that cost $105,000 for defamation

In a landmark decision, and the first of its kind in Australia, the New South Wales District Court has ordered a former student of Orange High School to pay $105,000 to a teacher for defamatory tweets.

In the case of Mickle v Farley, Ms Mickle sued the former student for defamation because of a tirade of comments he posted on Twitter (and Facebook) about her. The former student seemed to believe that Ms Mickle had something to do with his father leaving his job as head of music at the school - beliefs that were unsubstantiated by evidence.

Although the tweets and posts were removed within a couple of weeks and an apology made by the former student, the Judge awarded Ms Mickle $105,000 for the effect it had on her life. Ms Mickle went on sick leave shortly after the comments were made and could only return to work on a limited basis.