CNN denies Australians access to its Facebook pages, cites defamation risk

FILE PHOTO: The Facebook logo is displayed on their website in an illustration photo taken in Bordeaux, France, on February 1, 2017. REUTERS/Regis Duvignau/File Photo

SYDNEY (Reuters) -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.

The move makes CNN, which is owned by AT&T Inc, the first major news organisation to pull its Facebook presence in Australia since the country's highest court ruled this month that publishers were legally responsible for comments posted below articles - even if the articles themselves were not defamatory.