-49was disseminated by him which ought to have led him to suppose that it contained a libel, and (3) that, when the work was disseminated by him, it was not by any negligence on his part that he did not know that it contained the libel, then, although the dissemination of the work by him was prima facie publication of it, he may nevertheless, on proof of the before-mentioned facts, be held not to have published it. But the onus of proving such facts lies on him,…” Mr Thomas focusses upon the opening lines and submits that the respondents were “the first or main publishers”. 122. In the circumstances of this case, if Mr Thomas were right, the respondents had no defence and the appeal must succeed. So the first question is this: Were the respondents entitled to rely on the defence of innocent dissemination? 123. In answering this question I agree with Mr Justice Ribeiro PJ that the respondents, as forum hosts, must be treated as publishers of the defamatory statements: Though, obviously, not as first publishers; the first publishers being the authors of the statements who posted those statements in the forum intending that those statements be published. It is here, in my judgment, that the common law demonstrates its flexibility to accord with the changing times105. 124. In theory a forum host such as the respondents in this case has some control over the contents of the statements published through the medium of the website maintained by them. And the respondents have demonstrated that they had control in this case because, in relation to “the 2009 statements” (those posted on 21 January 2009), these were discovered by the respondents 105 As Lord Roskill said in a different context: “New situations regularly arise in the practice of the law which require previously held and sometimes generally accepted views to be reviewed and if necessary to be revised in the light of that new situation. Indeed, the evolution of the common law of this country to meet the changing needs of contemporary society and its adaptability to change owes much to judicial acceptance of this philosophy.” Home Office v Harman [1983] 1 AC 280 at 320G