Sued, gagged and broke: nobody does defamation quite like Australia.

It has provided some of the best-read and most colourful cases in our legal history - but defamation law is so bedevilled with complexities and anachronisms that it leaves many lawyers and judges shaking their heads.

In the latest episode of Please Explain, investigative journalist Kate McClymont, Larina Alick, editorial counsel for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age,  and group executive editor James Chessell delve into the risks of publishing, including the social media dangers that most users of Facebook and Twitter are completely unaware of.

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