New defamation laws introduced by the Queensland Government last week will provide better protections against online content providers being sued and step back from a landmark High Court decision, explains media law expert Sophie Roberston.
“Defamation law is always playing catch-up to developments in technology and social media and that can be difficult to balance,” Sophie explains.
“On the one hand you have people’s entitlement to free speech and being able to express their views and opinions online, and on the other hand, there’s the right for people to protect their reputation from unjustifiable false attacks online.”
The Queensland Government said the Defamation and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 would clarify who is responsible for defamatory material published online.
It also added the reforms would ensure those who report to police, including for serious misconduct like sexual harassment or assault, are protected from defamation claims.
“Removing a key barrier that victim survivors had to overcome when coming forward,” their statement reads.
The outcome of Fairfax & Others v Voller [2021] had national ramifications on online publication in the country.
The decision left organisations hosting digital content increasingly liable for comments made by third parties on their platforms.
Organisations had to ramp up their vigilance and moderation for what was being said by outside parties on their content.
Sophie said this recent legislative change in Queensland, announced on 14 October 2025, endeavoured to tackle new developments in this space and more clearly identify who can be liable for defamation.
Sophie said she believed this was an effort to reduce the effect of the 2021 High Court decision.
“Previously there was thought to be no liability for what other people published on their posts, if it was third parties making comments they were usually just left there and they weren’t moderated or reviewed,” she said.
“That case was the High Court saying, no – you’re the host of that page and you derive benefit from it, so you are liable for what third party users are commenting there.
“This Bill is designed to limit the effect of that.”
She said this 2021 outcome “had opened huge potential liability for anyone who hosted a Facebook page”.
“It had tended to make community group Facebook page owners and administrators liable for defamatory posts made on their pages by third parties when they might not have known about that post or had any role in authoring it,” she said.
“One of the primary objectives of this reform is to limit this High Court decision … especially in respect to what the reforms describe as digital intermediaries.”
Sophie said the changes had been a long time coming but bring Queensland in line with the majority of the country, with similar amendments made and implemented in New South Wales, Victoria and the Australian Capital Territory.
Along with the changes in liability protections, the new laws also give the Court greater power in getting defamatory content removed.
Sophie said these changes would be particularly relevant to lawyers who practice in defamation or provide advice to clients on this subject.
The Bill has been referred to the Justice, Integrity and Community Safety Committee, which is inviting submissions from all interested parties by 10am on 28 October 2025.
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