Media companies responsible for Facebook comments, Australian court rules

The comments were made on the Facebook pages of media companies (Niall Carson/PA)

Media outlets are “publishers” of allegedly defamatory comments posted by third parties on their official Facebook pages, Australia’s highest court has ruled.

The High Court dismissed an argument by some of Australia’s largest media organisations – Fairfax Media Publications, Nationwide News and Australian News Channel – that for people to be publishers, they must be aware of the defamatory content and intend to convey it.