Australia's Top Court Finds Media Companies Liable for Other People's Facebook Comments

[mahatmakanejeeves]

Source: The Wall Street Journal.

Australia’s Top Court Finds Media Companies Liable for Other People’s Facebook Comments

Decision could hinder the promoting of important public-interest journalism, legal experts say

By Mike Cherney
https://twitter.com/Mike_Cherney
[e-mail]
Sept. 8, 2021 6:15 am ET

SYDNEY—Australia’s highest court found that newspapers and television stations that post articles on Facebook Inc.’s platform are liable for other Facebook users’ comments on those posts, a ruling that could prompt traditional publishers to rethink how they engage with social media.

The High Court of Australia determined that media companies, by creating a public Facebook page and posting content on that page, facilitated and encouraged comments from other users on those posts. That means the media companies should be considered publishers of the comments and are therefore responsible for any defamatory content that appears in them, according to a summary of the judgment from the court.

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Read more: https://www.wsj.com/articles/australias-top-court-finds-media-companies-liable-for-other-peoples-facebook-comments-11631096115

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Donny Ferguson Retweeted

https://twitter.com/DonnyFerguson

Link to tweet

[melm00se]

2. Good ol' Donny is

absolutely correct.

Something like this could (and probably will) be used to stifle the free and open discussion on a topic, especially one that is either controversial or political.

[Liberty Belle]

3. Crazy. Media outlets have hundreds of posts on social media - you can't police them all.

Under this someone could post something wacko on a post that is months or even years old - no media outlet has time to check every post everywhere.

I run a media outlet and rarely read comments beyond the first few days when I post a story or other material online, if then.

This would have an extreme chilling effect on a free press. I hope Australia's legislature will pass a law to protect media outlets from this insane ruling.

[muriel_volestrangler]

4. Verge article (no firewall)

The ruling may even effect individuals posting on personal social media pages, said Rolph in comments to The Sydney Morning Herald. The decision “obviously has implications for ordinary users of social media platforms, because they can be held liable as publishers where they post material to their Facebook pages and encourage engagement,” he noted.

Media companies argued that they could not be the publishers of Facebook comments as they were unaware of their content. “To be a publisher, one must intend to communicate the matter complained of,” they wrote in a submission from February 2021. They also noted that at the time of the lawsuit, Facebook didn’t allow publishers to turn off comments underneath posts at all (the company only added this feature in March this year).

The High Court responded by noting that when media companies created and maintained public Facebook pages they were showing their “intentional participation in the process” of sharing third-party comments. “[T]he appellants’ attempt to portray themselves as passive and unwitting victims of Facebook’s functionality has an air of unreality,” wrote two of the justices, Stephen Gageler and Michelle Gordon, in a judgement. “Having taken action to secure the commercial benefit of the Facebook functionality, the appellants bear the legal consequences.”

https://www.theverge.com/2021/9/8/22662191/australia-high-court-facebook-comments-legal-liability-publisher-ruling-voller

If they couldn't turn off comments at the time, it does seem harsh to hold the media companies (rather than Facebook) liable for anything written in reply.

[EndlessWire]

5. I'm a fan of Australia

but, this is insane. It's just going to shut down so much of the news and such. It doesn't make any sense.