In Australia, public broadcaster ABC reporter Louise Milligan was fined $79,000 for four tweets about Representative Andrew Laming. Milligan Laming was charged with pleading guilty in March upskirtPhotographing women under skirts or dresses.
Employer ABC pays the transferred fine of about 50,000 euros, which Milligan’s company aided in the case. The conflict is seen as a test – others say – of Australia’s defamation laws. Milligan deleted the tweets in June and posted a correction.
ABC says it is pushing for a no-credit settlement to avoid a lengthy legal dispute.
Lamin suffices with the conclusion and says that the defamation legislation was put in place “for exactly that reason”. The centerpiece is a photo from 2019 taken by Laming of a woman (in shorts) bent on filling the fridge with soda cans. The woman in question thought the photo was inappropriate, and Laming stated that he was interested in what he saw as a humorous situation. Getting that many cans in the fridge was like a jar of Tetris, according to Laming.
In April of this year, the police concluded that no criminal offense had been committed. Laming then took steps against Milligan. Laming may also sue Queensland news channel Nine News, which reported the case in 2019.
The Sydney Morning Herald reports that Laming will soon leave politics after allegations of molesting two women online.
