Earlier this month, The High Court threw out an appeal by media outlets including The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian, ruling that media outlets are legally responsible for comments published on their Facebook pages. As a result of the ruling, US news outlet CNN has disabled its Facebook pages in Australia.
See More: High Court rules media outlets could be liable for Facebook comments
In a statement, CNN said that they asked if Facebook would disable the ability to leave comments on their Australian pages, but the request was denied. CNN says it is “disappointed” by the decision, but will not go so far as to pull its content from Australia entirely.
“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,” the statement said. “CNN will, of course, continue to publish content on our own platforms in Australia and to deliver quality journalism to our audiences around the world.”
In a separate statement, Facebook said that “we continue to provide Australians with quality journalism destinations, including through Facebook News launched in August.”
The screen Australians are taken to when attempting to access CNN’s Facebook page
In the time since the ruling was made, Facebook has allowed the hosts of public pages to pre-emptively turn off the ability to leave comments on their posts as a way to protect themselves.
The original appeal was launched after last year’s ruling that media outlets were liable for comments made on their pages about former Don Dale Youth Detention Centre detainee, Dylan Voller.
The ruling means that Voller can continue with his intention to take the media outlets to the New South Wales Supreme Court because of alleged defamatory comments that were left on their public Facebook pages. Voller will also have his legal costs reimbursed by the media outlets.
In 2016, images of Voller hooded and strapped into a mechanical restraint chair were broadcast by Four Corners. The episode was the catalyst for a royal commission into the Northern Territory’s youth detention system.