CNN has disabled its Facebook page in Australia following a High Court ruling which found news publishers are liable for third-party comments made on their Facebook posts.
The decision was made earlier this month against three major publishers, including FairFax Media, now owned by Nine, Nationwide News, and Sky News.
The issue was raised as part of defamation proceedings initiated by Dylan Voller, a former detainee in a Northern Territory youth detention centre, who is seeking to sue the publishers over alleged defamatory comments made on their Facebook pages.
CNN says it approached Facebook and requested it give publishers the ability to disable comments on their pages in Australia.
“They chose not to do so. As a result, CNN will no longer publish content to Facebook in Australia,” a spokesperson for the company says.
“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. 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 March this year, Facebook released new tools which gives publishers, and people, more control over who can comment on their posts. This includes turning off comments to posts or limiting who can comment. However, it doesn’t allow publishers to control comments across its page and has to be done by individual post.
“We support the ongoing reform of Australia’s uniform defamation laws and look forward to greater clarity and certainty in this area,” a Facebook spokesperson says.
“Recent court decisions have reaffirmed the need for such law reform. While it's not our place to provide legal guidance to CNN, we have provided them with the latest information on tools we make available to help publishers manage comments. And we continue to provide Australians a destination for quality journalism, including through Facebook News which we launched in August.
“We are also working closely with the review of defamation laws established by state, territory and federal Attorneys General.”
Have something to say on this? Share your views in the comments section below. Or if you have a news story or tip-off, drop us a line at adnews@yaffa.com.au
Sign up to the AdNews newsletter, like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter for breaking stories and campaigns throughout the day.