BY MARLA SOMMER

The High Court of Australia has ruled publishers of Facebook pages can be liable for defamatory comments posted by third parties.

In the wake of this decision, popular Facebook group Melbourne Gal Pals (MGP) was shut down, after the decision made it increasingly difficult for admins to monitor posts made from more than 80,000 group members.  

The court's ruling applies to large publications, such as the ABC and commercial news media, but smaller Facebook groups like MGP could also fall fowl of the law with admins and moderators now liable for any comments in the group. 

Former moderator and current admin for a new MGP group Jamie Batica said only so much would be shown on her newsfeed and it was difficult to keep up with all the posts and comments. 

“We relied heavily on members reporting content and other members that they believed broke the rules,” she said. 

Joining the group in 2015, Ms Batica said it meant a lot to her to have a safe space for support and advice. 

“I’m lucky enough to be an admin and have the ability and power to do my best and enforce the rules that allow us to keep the group a safe space for all,” she said. 

Ms Batica said it was a shock when two MGP groups were no longer accessible. 

“We were all freaking out and realised it happened the same day we found out about the new law,” she said. 

This law is a part of an ongoing case brought forward by Dylan Voller whose treatment in a youth detention centre was made public. 

Mr Voller sued three media companies who published articles about him under which readers left comments, which the High Court has since held were defamatory. 

Although this law was introduced to target national media outlets, social media users and smaller groups will now bear the brunt of it. 

Lecturer in social media at Monash University Dr Emily van der Nagel said she assumed this new law would focus on bigger media outlets as they follow a business model.  

“It wasn’t like if you have a Facebook group you could also be banned if somebody else that you don’t control comes along and posts something on your page,” she said.  

Dr van der Nagel said responsibility and accountability can be different depending on the context and should be acknowledged as such.  

“If you assume that The Age’s Facebook page is part of The Age website then I feel like it kind of makes sense. It’s not entirely logical, but it makes a sort of sense to hold The Age responsible,” she said.  

“This is a different thing to hold a private group that has no media affiliation responsible in the same way.”  

If the aim of making publishers liable was to rid social media of defamatory comments, then it will most likely be unsuccessful, Dr van der Nagel said.  

“Social media is not the cause of harassment and bullying or conflict, we’ve seen a lot of platform mechanisms introduced over time. For example, you can flag other people’s content and report it - but has that stopped harassment?” she said.  

According to Dr van der Nagel, smaller Facebook groups such as MGP serve a much bigger purpose than any conflict-related comments.  

“You can see what’s important to people in this group and that is social support avenues to connect with others who are like-minded and to get advice and a feeling of solidarity,” she said.  

Dr van der Nagel said if the law sticks around, more social media groups will end up like Melbourne Gal Pals.  

“I think this has the potential to lead to drama and that, when platforms or even tiny parts like Facebook groups understand responsibility to mean getting in trouble for things other people say, then it’s very likely that we’ll see more groups shut down as a result,” she said.  

However, publishers are protected by reforms that include giving a two-week notice before suing and a serious harm threshold.