Media can be sued over readers' Facebook comments, NSW judge rules

Media companies are liable for comments made by readers on their Facebook pages, according to a landmark decision in a NSW court.

The ruling stems from a lawsuit from former Northern Territory youth detainee Dylan Voller, who sued five media outlets over comments written about him.

Mr Voller has sued the Sydney Morning Herald, the Australian, the Centralian Advocate, Sky News and The Bolt Report.

He did not ask the comments be deleted, but instead launched defamation proceedings against them.

NSW Supreme Court Justice Stephen Rothman yesterday ruled that the case could proceed, and ordered the media organisations to pay Mr Voller's costs.

Nine Finance Editor Ross Greenwood said the ruling was unprecedented.

"This is controversial, because it’s the first time probably anywhere in the world that a judge has ruled that a news organisation, that simply having its information going out on Facebook, can suddenly be held accountable for what the public has said," Greenwood said on Today.

"The question also is, should it be the publishers or the public themselves?"

And what responsibility should Facebook face, asked Greenwood.

"Of course, one point the publishers themselves will make is they can't turn off the comments," he said.

"I would suggest that (Facebook CEO) Mark Zuckerberg and the executives there would be thrilled."

News Corporation, which publishes the Australian, the Centralian Advocate, Sky News and The Bolt Report, has announced its intention to appeal the decision.

"It defies belief that media organisations are held responsible for comments made by other people on social media pages," a spokesperson said.

"It is ridiculous that the media company is held responsible while Facebook, which gives us no ability to turn off comments on its platform, bears no responsibility at all."