A New Zealand judge has adopted the Tamiz v. Google ‘noticeboard’ analogy for the hosts of blogging platforms when considering the liability of Facebook page hosts as publishers of third party content

Courtney J in Wishart v Murray held that the host of a Facebook page has the power to both delete postings and block users, and so could not be seen as a passive instrument or mere conduit of the information posted on the page, reports Buddle Findlay.

As such, if a host of a Facebook page knows, or should reasonably know, that defamatory material is posted on their page, they will be regarded as the publisher of that information.