however, was that controversial comments could occasionally (although rarely)
be excited by wholly innocuous postings by the media company.
60
Mr Love made it clear that the primary purpose of Australian News Channel
was to interest readers and have them gain access either to the Australian
News Channel website or some other digital publication of the news, rather
than the snippet on the public Facebook page. There is an assessment made
of the risk associated with particular stories having an adverse effect on the
person or persons who is or are featured in the story.
61
Mr Love accepted that the uploading of the editorial from the Andrew Bolt
program was likely to provoke comments. One of the comments to the Bolt
editorial is a matter about which the plaintiff complains.
62
Yet, on the evidence of Mr Love, no consideration was or is, as a system or
otherwise, given to whether the sort of comment about which complaint has
been made was a likely comment to the editorial, when the editorial was
selected for placement on the public Facebook page. In other words, although
Australian News Channel assessed its comment, it conducted no assessment
of likely reactions.
63
Nor was there any consideration to the sort of comment that was likely to flow
from the posting by the defendant, Australian News Channel, from the plaintiff
himself stating that nobody deserved to be treated in the way that he was.
64
There are over 15 million Australian Facebook users which, when one omits
from the Australian population those over 60 years of age and under 6 years of
age, is significantly more than half of the Australian population. Mr Love agreed
that nothing specific is done about considering the risk that people who are
intolerant and irresponsible may be posting comments on the organisation’s
public Facebook page.
65
Mr Love accepted that the organisation could, effectively, block any comments
by choosing a significant number of ordinary words that would be required to
be contained in every comment. In doing so, Mr Love pointed to the resourcing
issue that this would create. In his words, it would take the Australian News
Channel some time to look through the 7,000 comments that they would