Digital publishing and social media can help businesses connect to their customers, but they can also result in significant legal risk. This UTS Open short course provides an introduction to defamation law for digital content writers, owners and publishers.

About this course

Despite recent reforms, defamation law can still provide strong remedies for people who feel their reputations have been harmed. This short course delivers practical insights for digital content creators, as well as anyone using social media, to reduce the risk of defamation claims.

Crafted in easy-to-navigate modules, course content covers:

Publication - when will you be liable and who can sue you?
Defamatory meaning - what you think your content says isn’t always what others, including the court, will think.
Defences - how can you minimise risk when dealing with contentious subjects?

Key benefits of this course

This course will equip you with:

Fundamental knowledge of defamation law concepts and principles
The skills to identify and adapt content to manage legal risk
Realistic exercises and scenarios to put your learning into practice
Insights into current issues and the effects of recent law reforms

Continuing Professional Development (CPD) credit:

Completion of this short course may count as 1-2CPD units (one legal CPD unit per hour) for NSW lawyers seeking to include this study towards their legal CPD requirements
The number of points depends on how much time you choose to commit to exploring the included readings and resources.

Price

Full price: $240 (GST-free)*

*Price subject to change. Please check price at time of purchase.

Discounts are available for this course. For further details and to verify if you qualify, please check the Discounts section under Additional course information.

Enrolment conditions

Course purchase is subject to UTS Open Terms and Conditions.

COVID-19 response

UTS complies with latest Government health advice. Delivery of all courses complies with the UTS response to COVID-19.

Additional course information

Course outline

Participants will access the course via the user-friendly online learning management system (LMS), Canvas. The course content is presented in engaging and interactive ways. Throughout the course, participants will:

Read about the core principles relating to each aspect of defamation law
See how these principles are likely to apply to smaller publishers, non-profit organisations and the like
Access further detail on aspects relevant to them
Debunk some of the myths and misunderstandings of defamation law
Explore the risks associated with specific digital activities, from email to social media posts to online videos
Work through practical examples that show how to apply the law and manage risk
Check their progress through module summaries and ‘test yourself’ segments.

This self-paced course is designed to take participants approximately 1-2 hours to complete, however participants may choose to spend more time exploring suggested readings and resources.

Participants who achieve a result of at least 80% in the marked multiple choice quiz (final module) will be eligible for a UTS certificate of completion for this short course.

Course learning objectives

This course will equip participants with:

An understanding of defamation law in the context of digital media
Knowledge of the circumstances that can lead to legal action
Skills to identify content that might raise a risk of defamation, and the steps to mitigate this risk.

By the end of the course, participants should understand best practice approaches to protecting themselves, their colleagues and organisation from defamation claims.

Requirements

Mandatory

Participants access the course via the Canvas LMS and will need:

Access to a computer or device with a reliable internet connection
Operating system and a web browser compatible with the Canvas LMS
Speakers or headphones for audio.

Discounts

Discounts are available for this course as follows: 

UTS alumni and current students: 10% discount with voucher code: Lawalumni
UTS Staff: 10% discount (see below)
Group enrolment of 5 or more from the same organisation: 15% discount (see below)

Discounts cannot be combined and only one discount can be applied per person per course session. Discounts can only be applied to the full price. Discounts cannot be applied to any offered special price. 

UTS Staff only: How to enrol and obtain your UTS staff discount

Please contact the team at support@open.uts.edu.au  to clarify payment options and the 10% staff discount code.

Group enrolment of 5 or more from the same organisation: 15% discount

To take up this offer, email law.shortcourses@uts.edu.au with

your organisation’s name and ABN,
the course name and date and
the number of people in your group (minimum of 5 participants).

How to apply your discount voucher 

If you are eligible for a UTS alumni or student discount, please ensure you have provided your UTS student number in your UTS Open Profile (under “A bit about you”). If you are an alumni and have forgotten your UTS student number, email support@utsopen.uts.edu.au with your full name, UTS degree and year of commencement.  
Add this course to your cart 
Click on "View Cart" (blue shopping trolley at top right of screen). You will need to sign in or sign up to UTS Open 
Enter your eligible code beneath the “Have a code?” prompt and click on the blue "Apply" button 
Verify your voucher code has been successfully applied before clicking on the blue "Checkout" button.

Contact us

For any questions on enrolment or payment, please email support@open.uts.edu.au 
If you have a specific question on course content or requirements, please email law.shortcourses@uts.edu.au

Disclaimer: this course does not constitute legal advice.

Who is this course for?

This short course is suitable for a wide range of digital publishing and legal professionals, including, but not limited to:

Digital publishers, especially smaller organisations and non-profits
Communications specialists such as journalists and public relations officers
In-house marketing and public communications team
Writers
Social media influencers
Social media content moderators in schools, sports groups and publishers
Lawyers seeking an introduction to defamation risks in a digital environment.

$240.00

START DATE	Start anytime
MODE	Online
DURATION	2 hrs

View all sessions

Lead Academic

Professor Derek Wilding

Co-Director, Centre for Media Transition | Professor, UTS Law

Derek is Co-Director of the Centre for Media Transition in the Faculty of Law at UTS. He specialises in media law and regulation. Before joining UTS, he was Executive Director of the Australian Press Council, and also worked for the Australian Communications and Media Authority and the Office of Film and Literature Classification.

Derek was Director of the Communications Law Centre at UNSW and earlier worked for the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance. He is the head of the Australian Chapter of the International Institute of Communications and chair of the research panel for the Public Interest Journalism Initiative. His research interests include media standards, digital platform regulation and media pluralism.

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