When is an online publisher a publisher?

• Published date: 19 September 2022
• Subject Matter: Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration, Media, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment, Libel & Defamation, Publishing, Social Media
• Law Firm: Holding Redlich
• Author: Ms Susan Goodman and Millie Clayton

In the recent case of Google LLC v Defteros [2022] HCA 27 (Google LLC v Defteros), the High Court held that Google LLC was not a publisher of a defamatory matter by providing search results which contained hyperlinks to a defamatory article.

This is in contradistinction to the High Court's finding in Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd v Voller [2021] HCA 25 (Fairfax v Voller), handed down in September last year, where the High Court held that anyone who hosts or facilitates online or social media content may be held liable for defamatory comments made by third parties. So what's the difference?

Google v Defteros

On 17 August 2022, the High Court (5-2) allowed an appeal from a judgment of the Court of Appeal of the Supreme Court of Victoria in Google LLC v Defteros. The appeal concerned whether the appellant, Google LLC, had published defamatory material by operating an internet search engine which, in response to a user-designed query, provided search results including a snippet of content and a hyperlink to a webpage which contained a defamatory article.

In 2016, the respondent, Mr Defteros, became aware that if he 'googled' his name, a hyperlinked article published in 2004 by The Age newspaper appeared as a search result. Mr Defteros alleged that the article defamed him, as it suggested that he had crossed...