An internet search engine operator is capable of being a publisher for defamation purposes under Australian law, both before and after receiving notice of defamatory content. The English decisions holding that search engine operators perform a merely passive role and cannot be publishers do not represent the common law of Australia. The operator of a search engine intends to publish the material its automated systems produce because those systems are designed to produce and display results upon user request. After notice, failure to remove defamatory material when having the power to do so can give rise to an inference of consent to publication.
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