Those who attended the ‘Freedom of the Tweet‘ talk this Tuesday won’t be surprised to hear that a new defamation case has been brought against Twitter.
An Australian man is suing the social media giant after its service was used by TV personality Marieke Hardy to publicise a website which falsely accused him of writing a hateful blog about her. .
Hardy has already issued an apology and is thought to have paid out around $15,000 to Joshua Meggitt, who she tweeted was an “internet bully”, but he is now seeking damages from the social media site where the original defamation had the greatest exposure.
It’s the first lawsuit to be brought against Twitter using Australian law and will demonstrate the challenges courts face when reconciling social media with traditional publishing law
Mr Meggitt’s lawyer, Stuart Gibson, said he would not be suing individuals who retweeted Ms Hardy’s comment.
”Twitter are a publisher, and at law anyone involved in the publication can be sued,” Mr Gibson said. ”We’re suing for the retweets and the original tweet – and many of the retweets and comments are far worse.”
Michelle Griffin, writing in The Age, said:
While it is widely believed that Twitter itself can’t be sued, he [Meggitt’s lawyer] cites a landmark 2002 High Court case in which Melbourne mining magnate Joseph Gutnick won the right to sue US business news publisher Dow Jones in Victoria, under Australian law, rather than in the US.
Mr Gibson also argues that, as his client has never signed on to Twitter, he has never agreed to the site’s terms and conditions. To sign on, all users agree that they take sole responsibility for any content they generate.
Media lawyer David Poulton, who advises Fairfax Media, said: ”There’s not a lot of difference conceptually between Twitter or other internet publishing and an airmail copy of a newspaper; it’s just quicker.”