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CNN Denies Aussies Access To Its FB Pages Over Defamation Risk
- By The Financial District
- Oct 1, 2021
- 2 min read
CNN said it is preventing Australians from accessing its Facebook Inc. pages after a court ruled that publishers can be liable for defamation in public comment sections and the social media firm refused to help it disable comments in the country, Byron Kaye reported for Reuters late on Sept. 29, 2021.
Photo Insert: CNN is the first major news organization to pull its Facebook presence in Australia since the country's High Court ruled this month that publishers were legally responsible for comments posted below stories - even if the stories themselves were not defamatory.
The move makes CNN, which is owned by AT&T, the first major news organization to pull its Facebook presence in Australia since the country's High Court ruled this month that publishers were legally responsible for comments posted below stories - even if the stories themselves were not defamatory.
CNN does not feature prominently in Australian media consumption, but the decision could have reverberations across the industry if other outlets follow suit. A host of global mastheads have boosted their Australian operations in recent years after identifying the country as a growth market.
"This is the first domino to fall," said Michael Bradley, managing partner of Marque Lawyers, which works on defamation cases.
"Others will follow for sure ... mainly media entities who feel they can happily live without the Australian Facebook audience."
CNN said that Facebook declined a request to help it and other publishers disable public comments in the country following the ruling, which was made during the course of an ongoing defamation lawsuit. CNN's main Facebook page showed an error message when accessed from Australia on Wednesday.
"We are disappointed that Facebook, once again, has failed to ensure its platform is a place for credible journalism and productive dialogue around current events among its users," a CNN spokeswoman said in a statement.
