Admins of Facebook Chat Groups may be legally liable for what is written on sites they manage.

Admins can and have been civilly sued.

Defending legal action costs around $300 per hour, it’s not long before your lawyers costs are tens of thousands of dollars.

That’s not including the payout of any costs or compensation awarded to the injured party. Even if you win your lawyers costs are borne by you.

All admins are jointly and severely responsible, which means each admin is liable for whatever is written in the posts and comments on the group they admin/manage.

What it’s only Facebook I can hear you say?

Facebook is a legal platform and what you write on it has legal ramifications, group admins have similar responsibilities as what editors of a paper have.

My Name is Sharyn McCaskey, I am an award winning social media marketing specialist, I’ve worked in this industry since Facebook and social media commenced.

I also owned Rockingham Process Servers for over a decade.
Rockingham Process Servers was contracted to serve two admins with notices of intent.

The lady admin I served broke my heart, she was shaking, crying and couldn’t comprehend why she was responsible, after all she didn’t write anything on the Facebook chat group, but as admin she didn’t remove the offending post either.

There are quite a number of actions being undertaken and more and more will commence in the future as more people are saying “that behaviour is not acceptable”.

I recall a principal of a school who sued over a Facebook post.

Do a Google search, there are some interesting links to be read.

One lady wrote a negative review, the business commenced action against her, she stated that she is out of pocket nearly $100,000 in just her legal fees and the matter hadn’t even gone to court by that stage.

More people are also taking action pertaining to cyber bullying and harassment.

Anything posted online is considered to be ‘published’, writing on that post, this is just my humble opinion, or IMHO wont protect you or the admins from being pursued for defamation if the post warrants it.

Now imagine if there is a call to act as a vigilante, or we give out details of people, either names, address, photos or phone numbers or even videos.

‘Naming and shaming’ is particularly risky, it can infringe on someone’s right to privacy, it can amount to harassment and can amount to defamation.

Facebook’s own terms and conditions have strict policy about sharing criminal activity.

I’ve read that a top law officer, is asking judges, police and victims’ groups for examples of where posts, chats and tweets have compromised a trial, or individual.

‘REPORT CRIME, DON’T POST IT ON FACEBOOK’
Said the police, this is for a good reason, the more you report a crime the more the government have statistics that show a clear need for MORE police, so report report and report.

“Admins are NOT responsible for what is written here” is something I see on group rules. The law says what is legally accountable and simply saying you’re not liable doesn’t cut it.

I get the frustrations and desire to vent but what is written can mean that a third party or yourself is accountable financially for those actions.

As for Criminally charged, there has been a spike in vigilante posts of recent times and in some instances vigilante actions.

A few weeks ago over 15 people were in a street argument, based on a Facebook post. The police stationed their van in the street for over an hour and made it very clear that any action undertaken by a vigilante would result in them being charged.

I also understand that the police have recently spoken to a few admins from a number of chat groups and have expressed concern over some posts.

So how can the admins then be criminally charged?
Incite to commit an offence that urges or encourages others to commit a crime, before the crime takes place.

If a post by a random person called for action to be taken, action was then undertaken resulting in someone being physically hurt, their property being damaged or God forbid killed then it could be considered as the admins allowed the post to remain and it caused a third party to act.

It may not have happened yet, but I know the police in all states are getting sick of keyboard reaction and are looking at this more closely.

At the very least admins certainly can and are being civilly perused by injured parties and it is costing people marriages, stress, jobs and money.

As a well-known Social Media Specialist I was approached by a number of parties, including a number of admins to share what I had researched on this subject. So I hope this has helped explain a little of why the recent reaction has been taken by admins.

Australia is becoming quite litigious, one of the fastest growing industries for individuals who wish to make money is suing and disputing a will, some people see litigation as a way to make quick money as in most cases the matter settles.

I feel so much for that lady who wrote the review that so far has cost her $100,000.00, wouldn’t that be so much better spent on family, children or a mortgage….not a lawyer. Plus her mental well being and stress levels would be shot to hell and back.

Admins CAN be sued civilly!
Even if they didn’t write the post….

However I feel certain that one day a test case will commence with criminal charges against admin/s.

Thanks for listening.

Group Admins Be mindful of your responsibilities.

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Sharyn McCaskey Social Media Specialist is a well-respected Facebook Marketing Specialist, who has trained over 30.000 attendees in Facebook Marketing.

These include business operators, corporations, not for profits, schools, members of associations and as a representative of some chambers of commerce.

She manages a select few clients and was awarded three years in a row, one of Perth’s most influential business people.

Sharyn is a South Coast Regional Chamber of Commerce Business Woman of the Year and is constantly a winner or finalist in many business awards, from Business Centres and Chambers of Commerce, including Micro Business Operator in 2015. She won Micro Business of the Year in 2017 and 2019.

Sharyn has flown/driven to 27 regional towns/districts nationally teaching Facebook marketing including the major tourist destination Jindabyne NSW and Ned Kelly Tourist region Jerrilderie NSW.

Most attendees of Sharyn’s seminars are referrals from past clients and her own organic reach has resulted in a number of posts going viral, one being picked up by the news.

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Sharyn McCaskey your Facebook Marketing Specialist.
0408 863331
mdvs@iinet.net.au
https://mdvs.com.au
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