WAGGA social media groups have backed proposed changes to defamation laws in an age where online commentary is becoming increasingly more public and far-reaching.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
With media organisations and page administrators being held legally accountable for defamatory comments made by individuals online, the push to see liability reverse is growing in support.
Wagga Neighbourhood Watch president Wayne Deaner said the rise in social media usage over the years has caused a growing need for extra caution in the way they monitor their Facebook group.
"We definitely need to be more strict with monitoring comments now, we need our admins to be on top of it all the time, and act quickly too," he said.
IN OTHER NEWS:
With the current laws pertaining to organisations paying the price of someone else's defamatory comments, Mr Deaner said it meant groups with no real administration could get away with defamatory comments a lot easier than those who have a governing body taking the fallout.
"We're lucky we have the backing of Neighbourhood Watch as a state organisation, so we have those social media policies and advice from solicitors and police and such, and that gives us a bit more control if something were to happen too, but these other pages like Thumbs Up Thumbs Down are just a free-for-all," he said.
"If we didn't have that strength as an organisation but were still considered an official group, it could be a lot worse."
Mr Deaner said the impact one person's comment can have on an individual was extreme.
"If you're going to slander someone, you have to be very sure of what you're saying," he said.
"You can ruin someone's reputation in an instant, and social media is so powerful in spreading a rumour super fast.
"If we see those risky comments singling people or groups out, we remove it as best we can and take screenshots as evidence if that were to ever be needed."
In July 2020, the Council of Attorneys-General agreed to a suite of 'stage one' reforms to modernise national defamation laws and also agreed that a second stage focused on online defamation should be progressed.
The second stage of the NSW-led review of national defamation laws will examine the extent to which platforms such as search engines and social media sites should be liable for reputation-damaging material published online.
Wagga's Jacob Chaple created the Facebook page Thumbs Up Thumbs Down Wagga NO BS 12 months ago, where the community can voice their frustrations and praises of Wagga life.
He said the group had its own measures in place to protect themselves against the risk of defamation lawsuits.
"When someone requests to join the page, they must first accept a rule we have which states they are legally liable for any defamation charges against us as a result of what they have said," he said.
"I also get a notification any time someone posts in the page, so I can check it as soon as it's up and decide if it needs to be deleted or not."
Mr Chaple, alongside four other admins, consistently monitor the page and any comments or posts made by group members, but at the end of the day, he said it shouldn't be up to them.
"These people are adults, they should take responsibility for their own words and acknowledge that sometimes they may say the wrong thing," he said.
"We have roughly 3500 members on the page, which is a lot to monitor, so it is unfortunate we have to be so strict just because a handful of people don't want to be responsible."
Defamation and honest opinions balanced on a "very fine line", according to Mr Chaple, who said their clause of personal accountability also gave people the chance to stop and think.
"By knowing that they will be held accountable, I think it also works to weed out those keyboard warriors spamming for the sake of it," he said.
"It makes people stop and think twice before they post something that could be defamatory."
NSW last year became the first state or territory to pass far-reaching, nationally agreed defamation reforms designed to unclog courts from trivial claims and support public interest journalism.
NSW, South Australia, Victoria and all other jurisdictions able to do so will commence the reforms on July 1, 2021, with remaining jurisdictions following as soon as possible thereafter.
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content:
- Bookmark dailyadvertiser.com.au
- Follow us on Twitter
- Follow us on Instagram
- Follow us on Google News
- Make sure you are signed up for our breaking and regular headlines newsletters