Andrew L. Urban
Federal Court judge Elizabeth Raper has exonerated Rebel Wilson for posting lurid comments about her young The Deb co-star Charlotte MacInnes to her millions of followers because it was on social media. “People will tend to scroll through messages relatively quickly. The reader’s reaction to a post is impressionistic and fleeting. The reader is likely to absorb the essential message quickly, before moving on. Readers of social media do not have advocates beside or in front of them, making arguments about what a tweet means,” Justice Raper stated on Wednesday.
Unfortunately for the applicant MacInnes, the judge’s reasoning is badly flawed on two grounds: 1) whether your defamatory insult is read for seconds, minutes or longer, social media has a long life. How many politicians have discovered this the hard way when old posts come back to haunt them? 2) social media is the feeding zone for mainstream media and the subsequent dissemination to a wide audience with longer attention spans. That fact alone challenges Her Honour’s reasoning.
Here are just a few examples where mainstream media amplified stories that first gained traction on social media:
- Nedd Brockmann’s Ultra-Run Across Australia (2022)
Nedd Brockmann, a former electrician, documented his 4,000 km run from Perth to Sydney (raising money for the homeless) heavily on social media, especially Instagram and TikTok. His journey, daily updates, struggles, and arrival at Bondi Beach went viral among everyday users before traditional outlets fully covered it.
– Major outlets like 9 News, ABC, The Australian, Fox Sports, and CNN picked it up, turning it into national feel-good news with live coverage of the finish, documentaries (Runn), books, and ongoing features. It became a prime case of social-first storytelling amplified by legacy media.
- Sandpaper Gate (2018 Cricket Scandal)
The ball-tampering incident involving Steve Smith, David Warner, and Cameron Bancroft in South Africa exploded first on social media (especially Twitter/X). Videos of the tampering, furious reactions from fans, ex-players (e.g., Michael Clarke), and politicians spread rapidly overnight, setting a tone of national outrage.
Mainstream outlets (news.com.au, The Daily Telegraph, ABC, etc.) quickly followed with wall-to-wall coverage, front-page “Shame” headlines, and analysis that mirrored and intensified the viral fury. Social media outrage heavily shaped the framing and pressure for harsh punishments.
- Viral Incidents, Hoons, and “Post and Boast” Crimes
– Reckless driving/”hoon” stunts or fights are frequently posted first on TikTok, Snapchat, or Instagram by perpetrators or bystanders for clout. MSM (e.g., 9 News) then reports on police investigations, often using the same footage.
– Similar patterns occur with racist videos, public altercations, or rescues that trend online before TV/news packages them.
Other Patterns
Mainstream Australian outlets (especially Nine, News Corp, ABC) routinely monitor TikTok, X, and Facebook for trending clips — everything from public pranks and missing persons updates to political gaffes or community campaigns. They repurpose user-generated content, add context/reporting and push it to broader audiences. This dynamic has grown with platforms’ algorithms favouring short-form video.
Social media often acts as an early warning system or outrage amplifier, while MSM provides verification, scale, and legitimacy (sometimes criticism of the original virality). This “megaphone” effect is common.
Yet the “fleeting” defamation was dismissed. What would the judge make of a claim of defamation in a comment posted on, say, The Sydney Morning Herald or The Australian?
