Australian defamation review to examine Facebook liability

An Australian government minister says a review of defamation laws will likely examine whether platforms such as Facebook should be liable for users’ defamatory posts. The High Court made a landmark ruling last month that media outlets are “publishers” of allegedly defamatory comments posted by third parties on their official Facebook pages.

Communications Minister Paul Fletcher said the ruling did not touch on whether Facebook could also be held liable but that a review is underway that is likely to consider it. The review is aimed at making sure laws dealing with defamation are uniform across Australian states and territories. AP