Defamation legislation
Chris CREWTHER (Mornington) (17:22): I wish to raise two issues. First, many local social media pages like WTF Mount Eliza, Mornington Peninsula NoticeBoard and Mount Martha Community Grapevine Noticeboard and their voluntary admins risk defamation suits for third-party comments. Current defamation laws only leave admins the option of disabling or constantly monitoring social media comments, stifling free speech. Media also face this issue. A key example is Cameron Howe, now a councillor at the City of Kingston. At 16 he set up the Carrum & Patterson Lakes Forum on Facebook. He recently faced defamation action over third-party comments, with a court ordering Howe to pay $205,000 in damages. He is now applying to the Supreme Court for leave to appeal, which in my view is in the state and national interest, to hear a Broadcasting Services Act 1992 defence at Victoria’s highest court, but it should never have got to this point. While people need protection from defamatory comments, there also needs to be greater protection for administrators, often volunteers, for third-party comments. Indeed the Standing Council of Attorneys-General support changes to protect admins from defamation over third-party comments, supporting a new ‘innocent defamation’ defence for internet intermediaries, subject to a simple complaints process. I strongly support Victoria’s Defamation Act 2005 being changed asap to implement these changes.