Lee Hsien Loong v Leong Sze Hian
[2021] SGHC 66
the next issue is whether the second requirement, that a third party has accessed
the defamatory material in an intelligible form, is met.22
45
On the basis of what has been described as a “platform of facts”, there
is at least a prima facie case that the Article had been accessed through the link
in the Post in an intelligible form. In Koh Sin Chong Freddie v Chan Cheng
Wah Bernard and others and another appeal [2013] 4 SLR 629 (“Koh Sin
Chong Freddie”) at [43] and [44], the Court of Appeal accepted that a platform
of facts could be established from which the Court could properly infer that
substantial publication had taken place. Some of the considerations which might
form the basis for this platform of facts are as follows:
(a)
First, the number of “likes”, “shares”, “reactions” and comments
which a post draws might provide insight into the number of individuals
who accessed it, especially since not every individual who reads the post
will necessarily respond in such a fashion: Bolton v Stoltenberg [2018]
NSWSC 1518 at [154] and [155], as upheld in Stoltenberg v Bolton;
Loder v Bolton [2020] NSWCA 45 at [102];
(b)
Second, the number of “friends” and “followers” the poster has
on the relevant social media platform is also relevant in determining
whether or not substantial publication has taken place: Pritchard v Van
Nes [2016] BCJ No. 781 at [83];
(c)
Third, setting the privacy settings of the relevant post to “public”
is also more likely to give rise to an inference that the defamatory
statement had been accessed by third parties and that substantial
publication arose: Doris Chia, Defamation: Principles and Procedure in
22
DCS at [2(a)].
24
Seleccionar párrafo de destino3
Conectar a un párrafo
Connect to an entity
Disable highlights
Añadir a la tabla de contenidos