This historic decision makes the law clear: publishers that facilitate third-party comments on
Social Media will be held legally responsible for them
![High court ruling in Voller defamation case puts media companies firmly in firing line | Rebekah Giles](https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/4acf0c753aed580870497707c150b015b08d0c0f/877_261_2912_1747/master/2912.jpg?width=1200&height=630&quality=85&auto=format&fit=crop&overlay-align=bottom%2Cleft&overlay-width=100p&overlay-base64=L2ltZy9zdGF0aWMvb3ZlcmxheXMvdGctb3BpbmlvbnMucG5n&enable=upscale&s=ec4b4e0e54763dea37685b478dd1ac73)
All eyes were on the high court on Wednesday morning when it delivered its decision in the Voller matter, which will have a significant impact on the defamation law landscape insofar as it relates to the liability of publishers for defamatory comments published by third parties.
In 2017 former Northern Territory youth detainee Dylan Voller successfully argued that media organisations are liable as publishers of third-party comments made in response to articles posted on their public
Facebook pages.