A jury in Panama City, Florida, found CNN liable on Jan. 17 for defamation of a Navy veteran and ordered the network to pay $5 million in compensatory damages.
The charge stemmed from a story the cable news network did about Zachary Young, who smuggled people out of Afghanistan during the 2021 U.S. withdrawal.
Young argued that CNN’s report, which accused him of running what the network called a “black market” by smuggling Afghans for $10,000, destroyed his business.
Young argued that the $10,000 fee was not for Afghans, rather for sponsors who could afford to get Afghans out amid the Taliban takeover of the country….