Judge Carnes Takes CNN to Task

By John R. Byrne

Yesterday, the Eleventh Circuit reversed the dismissal of a defamation claim against CNN. And Judge Carnes didn't mince words in his concurring opinion. 

To set the stage, the case involved Project Veritas (an investigative journalistic organization) suing CNN because it falsely reported that Twitter had suspended Project Veritas   for “promoting misinformation.” In truth, Twitter had suspended Project Veritas for disclosing a person's home address during a broadcast (Veritas tweeted a video of reporters trying to interview a Facebook VP and you could see a house number in the background).

Part of CNN’s argument to the Eleventh Circuit was that the difference between those two things-- suspension for (accurately) disclosing a home address and suspension for promoting misinformation--was "immaterial."

Judge Carnes's concurrence begins like this: "If you stay on the bench long enough, you see a lot of things. Still, I never thought I’d see a major news organization downplaying the importance of telling the truth in its broadcasts. But that is what CNN has done in this case."

Full opinion excerpted here.

Veritas by John Byrne on Scribd