CNN reaches $5 million defamation settlement with US Navy veteran

A US Navy veteran who helped Afghans escape after the Taliban seized power in 2021 has won at least $5million (£4.1million) after a jury found that he had been defamed by the American television channel CNN.

Zachary Young ran a private security company, Nemex Enterprises, that extracted people from Afghanistan in exchange for fees sometimes amounting to thousands of dollars, paid by sponsors.

A CNN report broadcast in 2021 showed his face and described an alleged “black market” and said people were preying on fleeing Afghans.

A six-person jury in Florida found in Mr. Young’s favor and ordered CNN to pay millions of dollars in damages.

The CNN report, which aired on The Lead with Jake Tapper, said “desperate Afghans” were being “exploited” and facing “exorbitant fee demands.”

Several internal messages were entered into evidence at the trial, including CNN employees speaking disparagingly about Mr. Young and other journalists expressing reservations about the reporting.

Mr Young denied any exploitation and said Nemex’s fees were paid by businesses and charities prepared to support at-risk Afghans expelled from the country after the US military’s chaotic withdrawal.

He said he did not indict the Afghans themselves and specifically discouraged individuals from contacting his company.

Although CNN issued a partial apology in March 2022 and said it regretted using the term “black market,” the network said it stood by its reporting.

He said in a statement Friday: “We remain proud of our journalists and are 100% committed to providing strong, courageous and fair reporting at CNN, although we will of course learn every useful lesson we can from this matter. .”

Defamation cases are rare under U.S. free speech law, but in court filings, Young argued that CNN gave him only two hours to answer questions and failed to conduct fact-checks. basic.

“From the beginning it wasn’t about money, it was about holding (CNN) to account and exposing what they had done to me,” Young told the BBC by telephone on Friday. “I have been vindicated.”

He said his company rescued 23 people – including a baby – following the US withdrawal, but since the CNN article its business has dried up.

“I hope that changes after today,” he said.

A separate hearing had been scheduled to determine punitive damages – payments intended to punish and warn against future behavior.

However, after the verdict, both sides reached an agreement for an undisclosed amount of punitive damages.