Many people are surprised at how easy it is to defame someone. Basically, all you need to do is communicate (or in some cases, merely help in communicating) something which tends to lower a person's reputation (or causes the person to be held up to ridicule) to someone else. That's it! And thanks to the internet, we can all communicate with potentially millions of people all over the world with a few clicks, even just from a phone, making it easy to defame someone to a huge audience. Defamation law has existed for a very long time, but modern telecommunications have really a put a spotlight on it.

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So, what about freedom of expression (also known as freedom of speech) then?

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People in Australia generally do have a great deal of freedom of expression*, but there are limits. There are actually a lot of laws which restrict what people are allowed to say. For example, some information must be kept secret for national security reasons. Another example is racial vilification laws, which generally ban communications which stir up hatred towards a racial group.

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In the case of defamation, the point is that there are a number of potential defences to a defamation claim. If you have a defence, you won't be liable for defamation (eg you won't have to pay damages) even though you defamed someone. So, when you see something on the news which makes you think less of someone, maybe because they have committed a crime or mistreated someone, that person has been defamed but that is OK provided the news reporter has made sure there is a defence available. In that situation, if the person sued for defamation, the person would end up losing the court case.

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Want to know more defamation and the potential defences to defamation claims? For a great introduction to defamation law, click here to access our free defamation basics online training course.

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* For example, Reporters Without Borders (formerly Reporters Sans Frontieres) lists Australia in 21st position, out of 180 countries, for "media freedom" , as at August 2019. That is not a bad result, of course, but does suggest Australia has room for improvement. Interestingly, Nordic countries take 4 of the top 5 spots. The United States languishes in 48th place, despite its Constitutional emphasis on free speech. Last place goes to North Korea.

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