Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd v Voller

Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd v Voller was a case decided by the High Court in 2021.

The case concerned whether or not a newspaper publisher could be liable for defamation where the article complained of was published on an online platform that was later taken down.

The court held that, where an article is published on an online platform and then taken down, the publisher may still be liable for defamation if it can be shown that they knew or ought to have known that the article would be accessible to readers in Australia.

This is because, even though the article is no longer available on the original platform, it may still be accessible to readers through other means (e.g. through search engines).

This decision has important implications for media organisations that publish content online, as it means that they need to be careful about what they publish and take prompt action to remove anything that could be defamatory.

It also highlights the importance of ensuring that articles are not published on platforms where they can be easily copied and distributed (e.g. social media).

This case serves as a reminder that defamation law still applies to content published online, even if it is later taken down. Media organisations need to be aware of this and take care to avoid publishing anything that could be defamatory.