Attorney-General Christian Porter says social media platforms should be treated the same as traditional publishers under defamation law, a change which would present a fundamental new challenge for global companies like Facebook and Twitter.
Mr Porter expressed the view in a speech on Wednesday, declaring the legal environment for traditional media companies was not fair and it was necessary to update defamation law as part of a national review being undertaken by federal and state governments.The Attorney-General said "defamation laws don't strike the perfect balance between public interest journalism and protecting individuals from reputational harm".
He highlighted the complex issue of the different legal burdens facing traditional media and digital platforms, including Facebook. He said the new players should be treated the same as the old."My own view ... is that online platforms, so far as reasonably possible, should be held to essentially the same standards as other publishers," he told an audience at the National Press Club.
"But you have to of course take into account, reasonable, sensible measures for how you do that ... because of the volume of what goes on in Twitter and Facebook is much larger than the volume from a standard newspaper."
We thought you liked transparency..when is the next elections
Free speech warriors cracking down on free speech again.
Ridiculous neo con
rubin_angela The LNP want truth on socials but were happy to use said lies on Facebook to narrowly win the federal election by 1 seat majority. fascistBoomers LNPfail LNPLies hypocrite auspol
And wikileaks.
So, when I call politicians liars, incompetent, foolish which is telling the truth and post that on Twitter, then I am going to be charged with defamation If these idiots can't take the heat then they are in the wrong job, we will not be silenced.
Ok boomer. Getting it in before this type of attitude gets me sent to Van Deimons Land for the term of my natural
When does lying fit in?
The truth hurts
So should politicians lying in parliament
Good. These platforms are no different.