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posted by janrinok on Thursday September 09 2021, @01:36AM   Printer-friendly

High Court finds media outlets are responsible for Facebook comments in Dylan Voller defamation case - ABC News:

The High Court has dismissed an appeal by some of Australia's biggest media outlets including The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian, finding they are the publishers of third-party comments on their Facebook pages.

Former Northern Territory detainee Dylan Voller wants to sue the companies over alleged defamatory comments on their Facebook pages in the New South Wales Supreme Court.

But the case had been stalled by the dispute over whether the outlets were the publishers of the material. The High Court today found that, by running the Facebook pages, the media groups participated in communicating any defamatory material posted by third parties and are therefore responsible for the comments.

Mr Voller's defamation case had been progressing through the courts until questions arose over whether the outlets were considered the publishers of the Facebook comments, which were posted in reply to articles written between July 2016 and June 2017.

The question was sent to the High Court, and at the core of the case was the definition of publishing.

Lawyers for the media groups told the High Court they might have facilitated the process, but they were not the publishers of the material. But lawyers for Mr Voller told the High Court that, under the law, communication of a defamatory comment did not have to be done intentionally.

"Any degree of participation in that process of communication, however minor, makes the participant a publisher," the lawyers' submissions said.

One of the difficulties for the media groups at the time was that Facebook did not allow them to turn off the comments function.


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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 09 2021, @02:31PM (1 child)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday September 09 2021, @02:31PM (#1176269)

    "Stay safe." colo, if you think the totalitarian control of the populace will magically end when 80% of the population gets vaccinated, you aren't thinking clearly. Having seized outrageous powers for themselves, the people in charge are not the sort to give them up later. They have been shown just how easily they can take it. And the vaccines have shown themselves not to offer guaranteed immunity to the coronavirus. The virus mutates, and the vaccine which was developed for a specific strain becomes less effective. Governments around the world are already talking about (Israel has already done it) mandating a THIRD vaccine dose. The virus panic never ends... unless the people make it end. Coronavirus is endemic and is another virus we have to live with now. Finland and Sweden have decided to live normal lives now, as it is a "background" virus. I hope the weak and old people in your country get their vaccination, as they are the ones who really benefit.

  • (Score: 3, Funny) by c0lo on Thursday September 09 2021, @02:49PM

    by c0lo (156) Subscriber Badge on Thursday September 09 2021, @02:49PM (#1176273) Journal

    "Stay safe." colo, if you think the totalitarian control of the populace will magically end when 80% of the population gets vaccinated, you aren't thinking clearly.

    Wanna bet?
    What if you're wrong and a totalitarian Australian regime is just a figment of your imagination?

    mandating a THIRD vaccine dose.

    If they don't give it for free, I'll pay it from my pocket anyway. The more, the merrier. I mean, what's not to like being connected to 5G via multiple providers? (grin)

    --
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aoFiw2jMy-0 https://soylentnews.org/~MichaelDavidCrawford