Kiefel Keane Gleeson CJ J J 2. 6 The use by each appellant of their Facebook page usually involves the posting of a hyperlink to a news story, with a headline, a comment and an image. Clicking on the hyperlink takes the reader to the full story on an appellant's news website. Readers are invited, by options which appear under the post, to "Like", "Comment" on or "Share" the post. These options are standard features of a Facebook page. Comments which are made by users appear on the page and are available to be seen by all Facebook users who can see the page. 7 The Facebook page used by each appellant is managed by a Page administrator, the person or persons authorised by the appellant to administer it in accordance with Facebook's terms of use. There was evidence before the primary judge, which was largely uncontentious, that an administrator could prevent, or block, the posting of comments by third parties through various means, although the Facebook platform did not allow all posts on a public Facebook page to be blocked. Individual comments could be deleted after they were posted but this would not prevent publication. It was possible to "hide" most comments, through the application of a filter, which would prevent publication to all except the administrator, the third-party user who posted the comment and their Facebook "friends". Hidden comments could then be individually assessed by an administrator. If sufficient staff were allocated to perform this task, comments could be monitored and un-hidden if approved by an administrator. 8 The primary judge found, as might be anticipated, that certain posts would be expected to draw adverse comments about the person who was the subject of the news story. It was not in dispute that the use of a Facebook page encourages and facilitates visits by third-party users to a media outlet's own website. The number of comments is an important aspect of the use of a public Facebook page, because comments increase the profile and popularity of the page, which in turn increases the readership of the digital newspaper or broadcast, and the revenue from advertising on both the page and the digital newspaper or broadcast. The Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) 9 Section 6 of the Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) states the subject matter of the Act to relate to "the tort of defamation at general law". It provides that the Act "does not affect the operation of the general law in relation to the tort of defamation except to the extent that this Act provides otherwise (whether expressly or by necessary implication)".

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