Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd v Voller; Nationwide News Pty Limited v Voller; Australian News Channel Pty Ltd v Voller

The High Court of Australia considered appeals from the Supreme Court of New South Wales in three consolidated proceedings brought by Mr John Voller against Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd, Nationwide News Pty Limited, and Australian News Channel Pty Ltd. Mr Voller alleged that he had been defamed by comments posted on the Facebook pages of these media companies, which were accessible to the public. The core of the dispute concerned whether the media companies, as publishers of Facebook pages, could be held liable for defamatory comments posted by third-party users on those pages.

The central legal issue before the High Court was whether the media companies, by publishing Facebook pages to which the public had access, were liable as publishers of defamatory comments posted by third-party users on those pages. This required the Court to determine the scope of publication in defamation law, particularly in the context of online platforms where user-generated content is a significant feature, and to consider whether the media companies' actions constituted publication of the defamatory material.

Gageler and Edelman JJ held that the media companies were liable for the defamatory comments. Their Honours reasoned that by making their Facebook pages available to the public, the media companies were responsible for the publication of all content on those pages, including third-party comments. The Court applied the established principle that a person who publishes defamatory material is liable for that publication, regardless of whether they authored the material themselves. The Court found that the media companies had intentionally made the content of their pages, including the comments, available to the public, thereby constituting publication.

The appeals were dismissed, and the media companies were found liable for the defamatory comments posted on their Facebook pages.