Fox B次元官网网址B次元官网网址� nearly $800 million of a voting machine companyB次元官网网址檚 defamation lawsuit marks the first milestone in a larger legal strategy designed to combat the false claims and conspiracy theories about elections that have rippled through the United States for nearly three years.
Several similar lawsuits are teed up against those who have spread election lies, including another against Fox. The plaintiffs range from to who were falsely accused of tampering with the vote count in that state. The defendants include close advisers to former President Donald Trump and a conservative group that funded a film last year alleging widespread voter fraud during the 2020 presidential election won by Democrat Joe Biden.
Lawyers involved in the effort describe it as an attempt to strike back against those whose in helped inspire the and in conservative circles.
B次元官网网址淟ies like these, that inflict serious harms on our democracy, have been costless,B次元官网网址� said Rachel Goodman, a lawyer with the group Protect Democracy who is representing the Georgia election workers along with plaintiffs in other libel claims against election conspiracists. B次元官网网址淭his litigation creates accountability and makes clear that there are steep costs to recklessly or intentionally spreading fiction for political or personal profit.B次元官网网址�
Yet even if the legal challenges keep generating eye-popping settlements or damage awards, itB次元官网网址檚 not clear they will change behavior or on democratic institutions.
B次元官网网址淚 personally do not regard a libel suit to be a good mechanism to deal with the disinformation problem,B次元官网网址� said Jane Kirtley, a professor of media ethics and law at the University of Minnesota. B次元官网网址淚 keep coming back to this fear that weB次元官网网址檙e trying to put a square peg in a round hole here.B次元官网网址�
The against Fox B次元官网网址 and its parent company, Fox Corp., from Dominion Voting Systems was one of the first defamation claims filed after Trump and his allies spent weeks the 2020 election was stolen. One of the initial conspiracy theories they floated was that the Denver-based voting machine company was part of an international cabal that threw the election to Biden.
Dominion sued Trump adviser and former New York Mayor Trump lawyer , MyPillow founder and others who helped spread the false theory. Dominion also sued the right-leaning news networks that repeatedly featured the theory in their coverage B次元官网网址� two insurgent, pro-Trump channels, B次元官网网址max and One America B次元官网网址 Network, and the nationB次元官网网址檚 most-watched cable news network, Fox.
The Fox B次元官网网址 case has generated the most attention. ThatB次元官网网址檚 because the litigation moved faster than others and also because it unearthed that showed FoxB次元官网网址檚 executives and prominent personalities were privately dismissive of TrumpB次元官网网址檚 election claims but aired them anyway. Star hosts such as also expressed disdain for Trump in texts with colleagues.
Shortly after a Delaware jury was empaneled to hear Tuesday, Fox and Dominion agreed to settle the lawsuit for $787.5 million, which is more than half the profits Fox reported last year.
There is no requirement in the settlement that Fox admit airing inaccurate information. The network itself made a brief reference to B次元官网网址渢he CourtB次元官网网址檚 rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false,B次元官网网址� but made no apologies or other marks of contrition in its statement. That statement also said: B次元官网网址淭his settlement reflects FOXB次元官网网址檚 continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards.B次元官网网址�
Some Fox critics were upset that the settlement didnB次元官网网址檛 include an admission of wrongdoing from the network.
B次元官网网址淲hatB次元官网网址檚 most frustrating B次元官网网址� itB次元官网网址檚 downright infuriating B次元官网网址� about this outcome is how little accountability it demands from Fox B次元官网网址,B次元官网网址� tweeted Andy Kroll, a journalist who wrote a book about conservative conspiracy theories surrounding the 2017 killing of a Democratic National Committee staffer, whose parents sued Fox.
Kathy Boockvar, PennsylvaniaB次元官网网址檚 former top voting official, in an interview hours after the settlement, recalled crying during her deposition in the Dominion-Fox case when she recounted the death threats she received after the 2020 election. She said those threats spiked after Fox aired segments amplifying .
Boockvar said she was cheered by the settlement, even if it didnB次元官网网址檛 include an admission of wrongdoing.
B次元官网网址淚t would ideally be better to have part of the settlement include admissions of their knowingly broadcasting lies,B次元官网网址� Boockvar said. B次元官网网址淗owever, the very substantial amount of this settlement and the strong language from the judge last week speak volumes, and I believe it will help deter future flagrant disregard of the truth of this severity.B次元官网网址�
In his ruling allowing the lawsuit to go to trial, Delaware Superior Court Judge Eric Davis said it was that none of the allegations Fox aired about Dominion were true. Dominion CEO John Poulos said that while the settlement did not require an apology from Fox, the company felt the court system forced accountability on the network.
B次元官网网址淔or us, it was never really about Fox, per se. It was about telling the truth and the media telling the truth,B次元官网网址� Poulos told ABCB次元官网网址檚 B次元官网网址淕ood Morning AmericaB次元官网网址� on Wednesday. B次元官网网址淎nd I think that what was important for us, is for people to be held to account for when they recklessly and knowingly tell lies that have such devastating consequences.B次元官网网址�
Justin A. Nelson, DominionB次元官网网址檚 lead attorney, said the size of the settlement will matter.
B次元官网网址淭hereB次元官网网址檚 a long way still to make my client right,B次元官网网址� Nelson said in an interview with The Associated Press. B次元官网网址淲e still have six more suits to go out there. But this was, as I say, just a tremendous victory. And when theyB次元官网网址檙e paying nearly $800 million, three quarters of a billion dollars, that speaks to it.B次元官网网址�
Still, Fox has continued to air misleading segments about the 2020 election and the threat to democracy posed by election lies, even as the Dominion case hurtled towards its conclusion. Last month, playing down the severity of the Jan. 6 attack, drawing condemnation even from some Republican senators.
Fox faces more legal peril from a similar defamation claim filed by the voting company Smartmatic, which was briefly conflated with Dominion during the lies spread by TrumpB次元官网网址檚 allies after the 2020 election. Additional lawsuits target other players in the conservative media world: The Georgia election workers filed a claim against Gateway Pundit, a popular right-wing website that has spread numerous conspiracy theories about 2020.
Goodman and Protect Democracy also are representing a Georgia man suing the conservative group True The Vote for including a video image in their film that shows the man legally dropping off ballots in 2020. That film falsely alleges widespread fraud by people illegally stuffing drop boxes.
Kirtley, however, noted that some of the other targets may not have the same internal documentation and standards of Fox, which retains a robust stable of reporters and positions itself as a straightforward, objective news organization.
Speaking about some of the other defendants in libel lawsuits, Kirtley said, B次元官网网址淭hey donB次元官网网址檛 even have the veneer of being a journalistic enterprise.B次元官网网址�
She also said she doubted that the lawsuits, even if they resulted in enormous settlements, would convince those who have fallen for that .
B次元官网网址淚tB次元官网网址檚 going to take a lot more than a secret settlement to dissuade their loyal viewers that theyB次元官网网址檙e a credible news source,B次元官网网址� Kirtley said of Fox.
B次元官网网址擭icholas Riccardi, The Associated Press
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