464
Peguam Negara Malaysia
v. MKINI Dotcom Sdn Bhd & Anor
[2021] 2 MLRA
[99] It is to be borne in mind that Delfi does not concern other fora such as
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc on the Internet where third-party comments
can be disseminated, for example an Internet discussion forum or a bulletin
board where users can freely set out their ideas on any topic without the
discussion being channelled by any input from the forum’s manager; or a social
media platform where the platform provider does not offer any content and
where the content provider may be a private person running the website or blog
as a hobby.
[100] Echoing similar decision as Delfi (supra), the case of Fairfax Media
Publications (supra) had unanimously held that the online media is liable as
publisher of third-party comments. In this case, Fairfax Media Publications,
Nationwide News Pty Ltd, and Australian News Channel Pty Ltd (“the
applicants”) published newspapers in NSW and operate television stations. The
applicants maintain Facebook pages on which they publish newspaper articles
with an accompanying comment, image and headline. From December 2016 to
February 2017 the applicants posted news items concerning the incarceration
of the respondent, Mr Dylan Voller, in a juvenile justice detention centre in the
Northern Territory. Third parties posted comments critical of the respondent.
The respondent commenced defamation proceedings against the applicants
claiming that particular comments posted by third parties were defamatory
of him, and that the applicants were liable as publishers of the third-party
comments.
[101] The trial court found the respondent liable for third-party comments. The
decision was affirmed on appeal where the Court of Appeal held that a person
who participates in and is instrumental in bringing about the publication of
defamatory matter is potentially liable for having done so notwithstanding that
others may have participated in that publication in different degrees.
[102] The court found that they were the primary publishers and cannot rely
on the defence of innocent dissemination under s 32 of the Defamation Act
2005 since they facilitated the posting of comments on articles published in
their newspapers and had sufficient control over the platform to be able to
delete postings when they became aware that they were defamatory. The court
distinguished between primary and subordinate distributors of defamatory
matter; it operates as a defence against liability, not a denial of publication.
The meaning of publication in Webb v. Bloch [1928] 41 CLR 331 was referred
to.
[103] We also refer to the case of Murray v. Wishart [2014] 3 NZLR 722, the
New Zealand Court of Appeal where it applied the “actual knowledge” test as
opposed to “constructive knowledge” test. The case concerns the determination
of the question whether a Facebook host is a publisher. It was in this legal
context that the court decided that the only test to be applied is whether or not
the Facebook host has “actual knowledge”.