CNN has become the first American news outlet to stop using Facebook in Australia to share content. The decision is in response to the recent court ruling in Australia, which says that media companies will be held responsible for comments people post under articles on Facebook.

The news outlets said it had appealed a lower court ruling along with three major Australian news organizations, arguing that they could not be held responsible for what readers say under news articles, but it was dismissed.

In an effort to beat the ruling, CNN said it approached Facebook and asked if the tech firm would “support CNN and other publishers by disabling the comment functionality on their platform in Australia,” according to a statement issued by a CNN spokesperson, who said that Facebook “chose not to do so.”

“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 CNN spokesperson said, adding that the media outlet will continue to publish on its own platforms in Australia.

The turn of events leaves CNN with no option than to quit the social media platform entirely in Australia, choosing not to share news contents on Facebook anymore.

CNN said it asked Facebook to offer a Page-wide setting to turn off comments in Australia. Instead, Facebook provided instructions for how the media organization could disable comments post by post.

Facebook has a comment disabling tool it launched in March, which allows people and publishers with Pages to turn off comments to posts, or otherwise limit the ability for people to comment to selected Pages and profiles. But it is not applicable in this case.

According to CNN, a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement that the company supports the “ongoing reform of Australia’s defamation law framework” and looks forward to “greater clarity and certainty in this area.”

“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,” the spokesperson said.

Where it all started

In 2016, an Australian youth detained in the youth detention system, was maltreated. His abuse was scandalous and prompted the youngster to sue Fairfax Media Publications, Nationwide News and Australian News Channel because comments made on their Facebook pages accused him of crimes his attorney says he did not commit.

The turning point came with the ruling, which now makes it possible for media outlets to be held responsible over the comments of their followers on Facebook.

Although the media companies argued that they shouldn’t be held responsible for user comments, and appealed the ruling of the trial court, the appeal court dismissed it, ruling that “appellants’ attempt to portray themselves as passive and unwitting victims of Facebook’s functionality has an air of unreality.”

“Having taken action to secure the commercial benefit of the Facebook functionality, the appellants bear the legal consequences,” the High Court wrote, adding that the appeals court “was correct to hold that the acts of the appellants in facilitating, encouraging and thereby assisting the posting of comments by the third-party Facebook users rendered them publishers of those comments.”

CNN said the High Court’s ruling did not resolve the underlying defamation case against the publishers, and it has since returned to the Supreme Court of New South Wales.

This new development is the latest in the year, adding to the proposed legislation that saw Facebook at loggerheads with the Australian government early in the year. In February, the Australian government had proposed a legislation that force Facebook and Google to pay news publishers for their contents used on their platforms. After Australia passed the News Media Bargaining Code, Facebook immediately blocked people in Australia from seeing news contents. But the social media platform rescinded its decision after negotiating changes with the Australian government.

The High Court ruling means news outlets will only have to choose between taking responsibility for comments made under their posts and quitting Facebook in Australia. With the latter being the shortest way to avoid trouble, expect many more news outlets to follow the steps of CNN.

Tekedia Institute rejoices with all the women accepted into DOCTOR MUHAMMAD BALOGUN FOUNDATION to spend 8 weeks in our Institute. DMB Foundation through its annual Women Enterprise Program supports small businesses to scale their missions. Recently, it selected Tekedia Institute as its training and development support partner. We thank Dr. MKO Balogun for the opportunity to serve these amazing women innovators through the advancement of entrepreneurial capitalism. Thank you.

Welcome Vincent Adeoba and the Transtura team to Tekedia Capital. I must note that your story was moving: “I never met my dad. I lost my mum at age 4. I lost my grandma at age 5. I hawked bread at age 6. I started primary school at age 7. I ran away from home at age 7…”, you had shared on LinkedIn – and then you also added that you attended Obafemi Awolowo University, read management and accounting, and went to work for one the best – PwC.

Transtura is a public transportation management company that provides comfortable, convenient, reliable, safe, and affordable on demand bus ride sharing service. Our smart ride hailing service enables people to commute within their cities at the cheapest price using our tech-driven solutions.

I used to be a teacher who could only write articles with limited  financial means to support young people who I see can change communities. In the past, I could have just said “good luck” when you reached out. But thank gracious heavens, we can offer good luck and provide capital now.

Just reading your note today, I want to congratulate you as you move from PwC to lead Transtura.

The future has promises and I am very confident that Transtura will thrive. Many young people have passed this path and today, they are changing communities and advancing the world. Yes, out of Lagos to Canada, United States and beyond. Nations rise when pioneering entrepreneurs emerge: you will serve your world.

Welcome to Tekedia Capital https://lnkd.in/evnUEs3 and let’s advance Africa together.

Feel free to throw the verbal flames. Yes, why should this village boy from Nigeria be discussing what is happening in the UK. I have to because it is a free world. When the UK voted for BREXIT, they voted for “freedom”. Yes, that guy is coming for my lunch. But interestingly, that guy coming for your lunch may be the one making sure you have breakfast and dinner.

Today, there is a massive shortage of truck drivers in the UK. Magically, instead of converting doctors, engineers, politicians, etc to truck drivers, the UK wants to issue emergency visas to get “foreign truck drivers”   – a rare group of people the UK cannot produce in days!

Of course, they will get the drivers because people need wages. But over time, the world will begin to understand one thing: those who are castigated as being “useless” are actually the people driving the world. Like during the peak of covid-19, I saw garbage collectors at work, when everyone was even afraid to open his or her windows.

The greatest shame in this world is associating prestige or influence to where we work or what we do to earn a living. If that is not the case, the UK would not have frozen truckers only to be begging them to return!

The UK government is poised to temporarily ease visa rules to attract more foreign lorry drivers, reports said Saturday, as it grapples with a growing shortage that has now hit fuel supplies.

The lack of tanker drivers has led to huge queues at petrol stations in recent days, as people ignore government pleas not to panic-buy fuel after some garages closed due to the lack of deliveries.

Up to 5,000 temporary visas could be issued under the short-term scheme, according to media reports, amid an estimated shortfall of around 100,000 heavy goods vehicle (HGV) drivers.

Of course you may ask if Nigerians drivers will begin an exodus to the UK just as our doctors are relocating to the UK. Who knows, provided the UK will honour their trucking licenses issued by the Nigerian government. And if that is the case, another Sheraton Hotel recruitment will happen, but this time for truckers and not doctors.

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“The biggest victory in life is victory over your time. If you master your time, you will win your future. Greatness has been achieved not because of special talent but rather via total dedication, perseverance and commitment through the mastering of time. A man who cannot manage his seconds will wander through the boundless of time.” Ndubuisi Ekekwe

Learn how to do it: using 5 minutes to plan your day will help you save (or improve productivity by more than) 3 hours in a day. But having the discipline for those special 5 minutes is where outperformance comes. It is like a brilliant student in an exam: you first scan the questions, and then decide within yourself how to allocate time.

What is tomorrow going to look like? Take 5 minutes to think what it would look like before you sleep or if you prefer, in the early hours of tomorrow, plan it. Remember: write the important tasks of the day down, and as the day flies, adjust if necessary.

Enjoy your time.