Fighting a defamation case for a post I didn't even write!

Did you know that in Australia, administrators of Facebook groups can be held liable

for defamatory posts published by third parties, potentially costing them tens, or even

hundreds of thousands of dollars.

My name is Andy Leonard and in 2023 I was the administrator of a private Facebook

Group with less than 240 members. 

I was sued in the Federal Court of Australia for defamation as a result of a post

published in the Facebook Group I administered. The post was not written by me

and I don’t know who wrote it. It named someone I had met once over ten years ago,

but otherwise had no association with. I didn’t even know that the post was there,

until it was brought to my attention by the lawyers of the person who sued me.

I removed the post immediately and agreed to publish an apology. The person

commenced proceedings against me nonetheless.

NSW and the ACT recently introduced new laws to provide greater protection to

administrators of Facebook pages against defamation claims, and I understand other

states are considering making the same changes. Unfortunately, I was sued before

these changes came into effect.

The proceedings have had a devastating impact on me and my family.  I’m a father

of two small kids, and I’ve racked up $25,000 in legal fees fighting this case. 

I’m asking for your support to help me cover these fees.  

After the costs are covered in my case, any surplus funds will be allocated to a fund

to help others who find themselves in a similar situation to me.

If you can chuck in a dollar, two bucks, ten, please do so, Better yet if you can share

this around to get the word out I would really appreciate it.

Thanks for your time.