Effects of Defamation Law Professional Communicators Regards Social Media Marketing and Press
Today, the government of Australia has been placing more attention on establishing measures making social media companies from publishing defamatory materials on their platforms. It is expected that such platforms will have stronger positions on defamatory speech, which means that professional communicators operating in Social Media Marketing (SMM) must be more aware of their speech. Besides, Reuters reported the statement that social media platforms have been “getting away with not taking any responsibility” for the content that is being published (Kelly, 2021, para. 3). Moreover, the strengthening of measures of controlling social media platforms extends to their treatment as publishers when there are posts of defamatory comments.
In the context mentioned above, concerns arise regarding freedom of speech in SMM. With the specific law considering social media sites as publishers, increased attention is placed on the issue, making it so that professional communicators working in the online sphere get more restricted in their speech, which is not an issue in Norway. In order not to fall victims to the abuse of defamation laws under the stricter legislation covering social media marketing, professional communicators may restrict their speech and possibly avoid using particular language that may be questioned. It is projected that the communicators will have to appeal to the protection of their freedom of speech under Australian law depending on the strictness of measures to which the government may subject social media platforms.
The same challenges have emerged in the press, which is highly present in the online environment. The High Court of Australia ruled that news sites are to be considered “publishers” of defamatory comments that the public makes on their social media pages and are to be liable for them (Karp, 2021). This resulted in such platforms as CNN blocking its Australian audience from accessing their Facebook page altogether (Roth, 2016). This shows that even though the press may not post any defamatory content per se when the platforms allow for engagement with their audiences, they may be liable for defamatory speech that their subscribers or followers post (Talwar et al., 2020). In contrast to Norwegian law on defamation, Australian legislators are becoming increasingly stricter with the regulation of various types of speech on online platforms.
Norwegian law allows professional communicators to be more flexible in the way in which they transfer information on social media, which is a significant difference from the Australian approach. Specifically, the Norwegian Supreme Court ruled that freedom of expression is a fundamental principle for mass media communication, with the need for communicators to expose the abuses of public authority and other unlawful acts committed by individuals in power. Because censorship is non-existent in the country and very few laws may restrict online communication, the defamation law has little impact on professional communicators’ social media marketing efforts.
Due to the focus of the Norwegian legislation on freedom of speech concepts, the contributions of various types of communication professionals who work in the online sphere are highly valued. The overall shift toward an increasingly multicultural and diverse society, the impact of digitalization and engagement in online media, as well as the established media structures have led to the expansion of opportunities to express opinions. In SMM specifically, the reporting of information and opinions is affected by bias, which is used for praising the products or services they promote. Issues arise when the SMM language is accused of being deceitful when the product or service does not meet the target audience’s expectations (Hollier, 2018). This means that reporting information must be accurate to avoid further accusations by the audience of the SMM messages. Nevertheless, there are few grounds for the receivers of SMM messages to claim defamation in Norway because it does not align with the laws covering social media advertising.
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When it comes to the press, which has gradually entered the social media environment, Norway represents one of the open media environments. Freedom of expression, freedom to use media, and the right to access government information, all of which are guaranteed by Article 100 of the country’s Constitution, offer the press abundant opportunities to communicate their objectives (“Norway’s Constitution of 1814,” 2022). Even though the expression may be controversial, offensive, or shocking, it does not mean they