Speaking openly for the first time, Brian, who preferred not to be identified, said online shaming was in the public interest.

It comes as debate continues to rage over an online incident that cast a Wagga woman in a bad light.

Photographs posted to Facebook alleged a parent had neglected her children in a McDonald’s car park sparking a wave of online abuse.

Brian, the administrator of Wagga’s Worst Drivers, said appropriate use of social media had a place in moulding good communities.

He was compelled to start the site after copping criticism himself as a P-plate driver.

“Social media is important. The only reason why I set Wagga’s Worst Drivers up was so people could learn from their mistakes,” he said.

The Facebook page now has more than 7500 likes and attracts about six messages per day.

He said his Facebook page contained a filter to remove offensive language.

The administrator also said the page is monitored to remove defamatory content as well as public requests to remove it.

“If someone asks for a post to be removed, we will take it down,” he said. “It’s not about shaming people, it’s about letting people know about their actions.”

However, a practising defamation lawyer at Slater and Gordon said the law is catching up with online defamation.

“I think what people need to remember is anything that is published online – whether it be a Facebook post, a Tweet or on Instagram – is published to the world at large,” Jeremy Zimit said.

“There is no difference between the front page of a newspaper with a circulation of 9000 to a Facebook page with 9000 likes.”

The federal government will consider new laws to crack down on large social media companies that do not remove offensive material within 48 hours.

Mr Zimit said people needed to take “extreme care” with their online behaviour, adding that an element of anonymity could be leading to a rise in social media defamation cases. 

He said the social media giants had an onus of responsibility in hosting online comments.