News organisations could be liable for defamation over third-party comments on social media after High Court ruling. 9News
Lawyers for the media groups argued they were not publishers of any defamatory material and did not have knowledge or control over the comments on their Facebook pages.
Today's ruling mirrored the findings of the Supreme Court, which stated the media companies facilitated the communication and are therefore liable. Images of Mr Voller strapped to a chair led to a royal commission into youth detention in the Northern Territory. In a statement, a Nine spokesperson said: "Nine recognises the decision of the High Court which makes news businesses liable for any post made by the general public on their social media pages as 'the publisher' of those comments.
"We are obviously disappointed with the outcome of that decision, as it will have ramifications for what we can post on social media in the future."The case will now return to the Supreme Court, where the media companies will seek to rely on other defences to the claim.
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