The judge in the Bruce Lehrmann defamation case has ordered the publisher of a YouTube channel to appear in Federal Court to show cause as to why proceedings for contempt should not be brought against him.
Key points:
- Bruce Lehrmann is suing Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson over their coverage of Brittany Higgins’s rape allegation
- The hearing has been live streamed to the public, but viewers have been prohibited from recording the live stream
- Justice Michael Lee has ordered the publisher of a YouTube channel to appear in court after nine videos of the hearing appeared on the channel
The action comes after nine videos of the hearing, which was live streamed, appeared on the YouTube channel Feminism Debunked.
Justice Michael Lee has named Glenn Logan as the publisher, and on Friday ordered he appear in court on February 13, 2024.
Justice Lee issued a warning at the start of each day of the hearing that the live stream was provided for members of the public to “observe and listen” to the hearing.
However, viewers were “prohibited from making any recording or photographic record of the hearing”, and failure to comply could constitute contempt of court.
Several times during the hearing, the judge named and warned sites which had breached the order, saying court staff were carefully monitoring social media sites.
Feminism Debunked was singled out towards the end of the hearings, when Justice Lee asked that an order be served on YouTube’s parent company Google, to reveal who was responsible for the channel.
The defamation hearing ran for a month, only finishing two days before Christmas.
Bruce Lehrmann is suing Network Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson over an interview with Brittany Higgins when she first alleged she had been raped at Parliament House.
He launched the action after his criminal trial was abandoned last year, with no findings against him.
He denies there was any sexual contact between himself and Ms Higgins when they returned to Parliament House after a night out drinking with colleagues.
Mr Lehrmann says he was identifiable from the information in the interview, even though he wasn’t named.
A large part of the hearing was a re-run of the trial, as Network Ten and Wilkinson argued truth as a defence.
The media group has also argued it should be protected by qualified privilege.
Justice Lee is not expected to deliver a result until sometime in 2024.
He is still to decide on a costs dispute between Wilkinson and Network Ten.
And now he will have to decide if Mr Logan should face a contempt charge.