The Supreme Court of New South Wales has held that, in relation to defamation liability, media companies are deemed to be the publishers of any comments posted to their public Facebook pages by members of the public. Justice Stephen Rothman’s judgment has implications for any businesses that allow user generated comments on their public Facebook pages (and potentially similar forums) as a means of generating subscription or advertising revenue.
Johnson Winter & Slattery Partner Kevin Lynch participated in a defamation panel discussing the findings of Voller v Nationwide News Pty Limited; Voller v Fairfax; Voller v Australian News Channel (2019) NSWSC 766 for CAMLA’s Communications Law Bulletin.
Kevin was one of five ‘favourite defamation specialists’ called on to share insights on this significant judgement alongside Marlia Saunders, Senior Litigation Counsel, News Corp Australia; Sophie Dawson, Media and IT Litigation Partner, Bird & Bird; Robert Todd, Media and Technology Litigation Partner, Ashurst; and Justine Munsie, Media and IP Partner, Addisons.
Read the full roundtable published in the quarterly Communications Law Bulletin.
You can receive the quarterly Communications Law Bulletin by joining the Communications and Media Law Association (CAMLA) at www.camla.org.au.
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