Rise in online defamation

LG Leader June 2018

A recent study by the University of Technology Sydney has highlighted a significant increase in the number of online defamation cases throughout Australia.

Online defamation involves taking legal action regarding defamatory statements made through various online platforms including: traditional websites; news and article websites; social media, predominantly Facebook and Twitter; and email.

The research made a number of interesting findings, including:

• in the last 5 years, 97 of the 189 defamation cases throughout Australia involved digital defamation – that’s over half!;
• plaintiffs were successful in just over one third (34.9%) of cases; and
• it is becoming more common for private individuals to take action or be defendants in defamation, rather than the traditional assumption of defamation being between public figures and media companies.

Our own experience with local government has reflected this national trend with an increased number of defamation enquiries concerning online defamation, particularly statements made about Elected Members and Council staff on social media.

Whilst the UTS research did not specifically consider local government, our own research, has revealed a significant increase in the number of defamation cases, particularly in New South Wales, involving local government, where Elected Members are increasingly both plaintiffs and defendants in defamation matters.

Her Honour Justice McCallum described this phenomenon in the opening paragraph of her most recent judgment involving elected members being defamed on social media stating: “the business of local councils in this State seems disproportionately to generate bitterly-fought litigation.”

This trend likely reflects the interesting balance of Elected Members as both private individuals and public figures and the increased community involvement, particularly online, in local government matters.