Document type
Court Decision
Country
A news website publisher was found liable for publishing vilifying comments posted by a reader. A claim was brought under s 18C the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth), which prohibits doing or saying anything unlawful on the basis of race. The court held that the news website was responsible for reader comments because it actively sought comments from readers, and reserved the right to not publish or to modify the comments. This level of control, combined with actual knowledge, was sufficient to find the newspaper responsible. Damages of $12,000 were awarded against Nationwide News.
Country
Year
2012
Topic, claim, or defense
Hate Speech
Document type
Court Decision
Issuing entity
Lowest Domestic Court
Type of service provider
Host (Including Social Networks)
Issues addressed
Trigger for OSP obligations
Type of law
Civil
General effect on immunity
Weakens Immunity
General intermediary liability model
Takedown/Act Upon Knowledge (Includes Notice and Takedown)