Australian court said that media companies are liable for comments posted on their Facebook pages
Australian court said that media companies are liable for comments posted on their Facebook pages
The High Court of Australia ruled this week that media companies in Australia are liable for the comments that Facebook users post under their articles, according to the court's decision. The decision could have far-reaching implications for the way Australian publishers interact with their readers on social media platforms in the future.
Earlier this week, the High Court of Australia dismissed an appeal brought by three major news organizations, who argued that they could not be held liable for comments made on their Facebook (FB) news pages by members of the public. The news organizations had filed an appeal against a lower court decision.
As the court noted, "the appellants' attempt to portray themselves as passive and unwitting victims of Facebook's functionality has an air of unreality about it." It is the appellants' legal responsibility because they have taken action to secure a commercial benefit from the Facebook functionality," the court ruled.
The High Court ruled that the appeals court "was correct in holding that the appellants' actions in facilitating, encouraging, and thereby assisting the posting of comments by third-party Facebook users rendered them publishers of those comments."
Bringing their case was in response to a lawsuit filed by Dylan Voller, a former detainee in Australia's youth detention system, against Fairfax Media Publications, Nationwide News, and the Australian News Channel, among others. As a result of his treatment at a detention center in 2016, Voller became the subject of a national abuse scandal. He later filed a lawsuit against three media companies, alleging that some public comments on their Facebook pages falsely accused him of heinous crimes that, according to his attorney, he did not commit.
"In order for their content to be seen by a larger audience, media companies encourage increased engagement on their posts, which is widely known in the industry. In order to attract advertising revenue, this is beneficial "In a statement, Voller's attorneys, O'Brien Criminal & Civil Solicitors, said that Voller was innocent. "There was no doubt that the media companies would lend their assistance to the publication of third-party comments as a result of the strong commercial imperative driving them. They did everything they could to encourage the publication of the book, and it is disingenuous of them to claim that they had no involvement in the process."
Still no solution towards the underlying defamation case
The High Court's decision on Wednesday did not resolve the underlying defamation case brought by Voller against the publishers, which has been remanded to the Supreme Court of New South Wales for further consideration.
However, it has the potential to alter the media landscape in Australia. Fairfax Media owner Nine Entertainment, one of the country's largest media organizations, expressed dissatisfaction with the ruling on Thursday after it was announced. Nine Entertainment said it was "disappointed" with the decision.
It will have ramifications for what Nine Entertainment can and cannot post on social media in the future, a spokesperson for the company told CNN Business.
In response to a request for comment from CNN Business, a spokesperson for Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. Australia — which owns Nationwide News and Australian News Channel — did not immediately respond.
A critical editorial in one of the company's newspapers, the Australian, was published on Thursday, accusing management of making a decision that "stifles free discussion."
As stated in the editorial, "This decision will stymie the exchange of ideas, encouraging Facebook users to turn off opportunities for comment." News Corp. Australia executive chairman Michael Miller was quoted in the article calling for the country's legal officials to "address this anomaly and bring Australian law into line with comparable Western democracies."
However, according to David Rolph, a professor at the University of Sydney Law School who specializes in media law, the decision will likely result in more litigation against companies over third-party comments. However, some recent changes to Australian law will likely prevent a lawsuit such as Voller's from occurring in the same way in the future.
As of July, publishers must be given the opportunity "to make a reasonable offer of amends" before they can be sued, according to Rolph.
To mitigate defamation risk, he explained to CNN Business that in the future, publishers will be given the option to remove comments from their websites.
In Australia, media companies may also choose not to allow comments on stories they are running. According to a representative from Nine Entertainment, Facebook allows publishers to turn off comments on stories completely in some cases.
In Conclusion
However, while Facebook declined to comment on this particular case, the company did so in March when it started allowing publishers with Pages to turn off comments on posts or otherwise restrict the ability for people to comment on posts to specific Pages and profiles.
