---
title: "Complaint notice to a digital intermediary (s 31A accessible complaints mechanism) with UK and US variants"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/defamation-and-media-law/digital-intermediary-complaint-notice"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "a33-digital-intermediary-complaint-notice"
area_id: "A33"
kind: "notice"
ai_level: "yellow"
version: 1
law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-17"
---

# Complaint notice to a digital intermediary (s 31A accessible complaints mechanism) with UK and US variants

> A short complaint to a platform, page owner or website operator that meets s 31A(3), starts the 7-day period for access prevention steps, and asks for poster data to be preserved.…

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/defamation-and-media-law/digital-intermediary-complaint-notice  
Law stated as at: 2026-10-17

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

A short complaint to a platform, page owner or website operator that meets s 31A(3), starts the 7-day period for access prevention steps, and asks for poster data to be preserved. Includes the UK s 5 notice-of-complaint content.

## Key facts

- Kind: Notice. A formal notice to serve or publish.
- Practice area: [Defamation & Media Law](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/defamation-and-media-law.md)
- Jurisdictions: Australia, New South Wales, United Kingdom (England and Wales), United States
- AI level: Yellow. AI can help in set ways. A lawyer checks specific points before use.
- Law stated as at: 2026-10-17
- Status: Maintained. Checked on 2026-10-17 against the 10 authorities it cites, for 4 jurisdictions.

## When to use it

Use when third-party content on a platform, forum, page or website defames the client and you want it removed or want to remove the intermediary's defence. Check first whether the intermediary is exempt (caching, conduit, storage or search engine) and whether the Stage 2 provisions apply in the governing jurisdiction.

## How AI may be used

AI may capture and tabulate URLs and map who posted, hosted and administered the matter; the lawyer decides the recipients, the legal basis and the wording of any imputations.

**AI may:**

- Tabulate URLs, post IDs, accounts and capture times from screenshots and exports the lawyer supplies
- Map the publication path (poster, page or forum administrator, platform, host, search engine) for the lawyer to confirm
- Locate the intermediary's published complaints mechanism and legal notices address

**AI must not:**

- Must not decide whether the intermediary is exempt or has a defence
- Must not draft imputations or decide whether the notice doubles as a concerns notice
- Must not quote the matter from an AI summary rather than the captured original

**The lawyer checks:**

- The complaint states the name, the matter and its location, and that the complainant considers it defamatory
- It was sent through the accessible complaints mechanism or a s 44 method, with proof kept
- The Stage 2 provisions have commenced in the jurisdiction whose law governs the claim

## Authorities

- [Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) s 4 (definitions of digital intermediary, digital matter, access prevention step, poster)](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2005-077#sec.4)
- [Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) ss 10C, 10D, 10E (exemptions for caching, conduit, storage and search engines)](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2005-077#sec.10C)
- [Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) s 31A (defence for publications involving digital intermediaries)](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2005-077#sec.31A)
- [Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) s 23A (preliminary discovery about posters)](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2005-077#sec.23A)
- [Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) s 39A (orders against non-party digital intermediaries)](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2005-077#sec.39A)
- [Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) s 44 (giving of notices, including electronic addresses and web forms)](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2005-077#sec.44)
- [Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd v Voller 2021 HCA 27](https://www.hcourt.gov.au/cases-and-judgments/judgments/judgments-1998-current/fairfax-media-publications-pty-ltd-v-voller)
- [Defamation Act 2013 (UK) s 5](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2013/26/section/5)
- [Defamation (Operators of Websites) Regulations 2013 (UK) (SI 2013/3028) reg 2 and Schedule](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2013/3028/contents/made)
- [47 U.S.C. § 230(c)](https://www.govinfo.gov/link/uscode/47/230?link-type=html)

## Official form

[Official form](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2005-077)

## Full text and drafting notes

The full text and the drafting notes are not part of this public page. Signed-in firm accounts can read them at https://ailawframework.com/precedents/defamation-and-media-law/digital-intermediary-complaint-notice and through the signed-in MCP connector https://ailawframework.com/mcp/firm.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*