Amid Facebook fracas, Australia moves to update defamation laws

CNN’s main Facebook page displays an error message when trying to access it from Australia, as seen in this screen capture dated September 29, 2021. Social media website / via REUTERS

SYDNEY, Oct. 7 (Reuters) – Australia is moving with renewed urgency to reformulate its libel laws after a court ruled that publishers may be held liable for public comments on online forums such as Facebook (FB.O), which Shock waves across the media industry and beyond.

Since the ruling, CNN, owned by AT&T Inc (TN), has banned Australians from its Facebook pages, while the Australian branch of UK newspaper The Guardian says it has disabled comments among most of the articles posted on the platform .

The heads of state and government of the state of Tasmania and the Australian capital territory, where Canberra is located, have also disabled comment areas on their Facebook pages, citing the ruling by the country’s highest court.

Federal Attorney Michaelia Cash wrote to her eight counterparts in the states and territories on Wednesday, stressing the importance of an ongoing review of libel laws.

“I have received significant feedback from stakeholders on the potential impact of the High Court’s decision,” said the letter, which was viewed by Reuters.

“While I fail to comment on the merits of the court’s decision, it is clear from stakeholder responses that our work to ensure that the defamation law is fit for purpose in the digital age is still vital.”

The review, which ran through 2021, has posted 36 submissions on its website, including one from Facebook, which says it shouldn’t be held responsible for defamatory comments as it has relatively few opportunities to view content published on the publisher’s pages monitor and remove.

The verdict has come under fire as defamation attorneys accuse Australia of not keeping pace with technological change and draw attention to the contrast with the United States and Britain, where laws largely protect publishers from the consequences of comments posted online .

The attorneys general and federal prosecutors will meet next month to discuss possible changes, although a timetable has not yet been released on when changes to the law could be presented to parliament.

While media organizations were among the first to criticize the High Court’s ruling, attorneys have warned that all Australian sectors that rely on social media to interact with the public may be liable.

“The decision has a significant impact on those who run online forums … which allow third parties to comment,” said a spokesman for the Law Council of Australia. “It’s not limited to news organizations.”

Andrew Barr, Chief Minister of the Australian Capital Territory, was among those who turned off comments from Facebook pages.

The move was made “out of great caution as his site is not a government account but a personal page,” a Reuters spokeswoman told Reuters in an email.

Brendan Nyst, director of Nyst Legal, a law firm that regularly posts on Facebook, said most companies would continue to allow comments because “engagement is the main strength of social media,” but the High Court’s ruling “justifies the need for proper surveillance” .

Reporting by Byron Kaye and Colin Packham; Adaptation by Lincoln Feast and Edwina Gibbs

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