"A Coward's Palace": Australian PM Slams Social Media Amid Facebook Fight
NDTV
Prime Minister Scott Morrison's comments suggest he would favour making companies like Facebook Inc liable for defamation.
Australia's prime minister lambasted social media on Thursday as "a coward's palace", saying platforms should be treated as publishers when defamatory comments by unidentified people are posted, pouring fuel on a raging debate over the country's libel laws.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison's comments suggest he would favour making companies like Facebook Inc liable for defamation with regards to some content posted by third parties, a position that could further cement Australia's outlier status on the subject.
The country's highest court ruled last month that publishers can be held liable for public comments on online forums, a judgement that has pitted Facebook and news organisations against each other and spread alarm among all sectors that engage with the public via social media.
That in turn has lent new urgency to an ongoing review of Australia's defamation laws, with the federal attorney general this week writing to state counterparts stressing the importance of tackling the issue.
