Telecommunications, Media And Technology (TMT) Law Update – Volume 43

JUDGMENTS

Liability for on-line defamatory posts

On 8 September 2021, the High Court ruled in a 5:2 majority decision that Facebook - and, by implication, any operator of a website or social media page - can be liable for defamatory content posted by third parties: Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd v Voller [2021] HCA 27. The appellant publishers maintain a Facebook page on which they post content relating to news stories and provide hyperlinks to those stories on their website. Comments can be posted by readers, some of which the respondent in this claimed were defamatory of him. The appellants contended that they merely administered the public Facebook page, had not intended defamatory publication and were therefore not responsible for comments posted by the public. Kiefel CJ, Keane and Gleeson JJ observed that under the law as it stands, defamation does not require proof of fault, the intention of the author is irrelevant, and "all that is required is a