Fox News害羞草研究所� nearly $800 million of a voting machine company害羞草研究所檚 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.
害羞草研究所淟ies like these, that inflict serious harms on our democracy, have been costless,害羞草研究所� 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. 害羞草研究所淭his litigation creates accountability and makes clear that there are steep costs to recklessly or intentionally spreading fiction for political or personal profit.害羞草研究所�
Yet even if the legal challenges keep generating eye-popping settlements or damage awards, it害羞草研究所檚 not clear they will change behavior or on democratic institutions.
害羞草研究所淚 personally do not regard a libel suit to be a good mechanism to deal with the disinformation problem,害羞草研究所� said Jane Kirtley, a professor of media ethics and law at the University of Minnesota. 害羞草研究所淚 keep coming back to this fear that we害羞草研究所檙e trying to put a square peg in a round hole here.害羞草研究所�
The against Fox News 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 害羞草研究所� two insurgent, pro-Trump channels, Newsmax and One America News Network, and the nation害羞草研究所檚 most-watched cable news network, Fox.
The Fox News case has generated the most attention. That害羞草研究所檚 because the litigation moved faster than others and also because it unearthed that showed Fox害羞草研究所檚 executives and prominent personalities were privately dismissive of Trump害羞草研究所檚 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 害羞草研究所渢he Court害羞草研究所檚 rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false,害羞草研究所� but made no apologies or other marks of contrition in its statement. That statement also said: 害羞草研究所淭his settlement reflects FOX害羞草研究所檚 continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards.害羞草研究所�
Some Fox critics were upset that the settlement didn害羞草研究所檛 include an admission of wrongdoing from the network.
害羞草研究所淲hat害羞草研究所檚 most frustrating 害羞草研究所� it害羞草研究所檚 downright infuriating 害羞草研究所� about this outcome is how little accountability it demands from Fox News,害羞草研究所� 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, Pennsylvania害羞草研究所檚 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 didn害羞草研究所檛 include an admission of wrongdoing.
害羞草研究所淚t would ideally be better to have part of the settlement include admissions of their knowingly broadcasting lies,害羞草研究所� Boockvar said. 害羞草研究所淗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.害羞草研究所�
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.
害羞草研究所淔or us, it was never really about Fox, per se. It was about telling the truth and the media telling the truth,害羞草研究所� Poulos told ABC害羞草研究所檚 害羞草研究所淕ood Morning America害羞草研究所� on Wednesday. 害羞草研究所淎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.害羞草研究所�
Justin A. Nelson, Dominion害羞草研究所檚 lead attorney, said the size of the settlement will matter.
害羞草研究所淭here害羞草研究所檚 a long way still to make my client right,害羞草研究所� Nelson said in an interview with The Associated Press. 害羞草研究所淲e still have six more suits to go out there. But this was, as I say, just a tremendous victory. And when they害羞草研究所檙e paying nearly $800 million, three quarters of a billion dollars, that speaks to it.害羞草研究所�
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 Trump害羞草研究所檚 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, 害羞草研究所淭hey don害羞草研究所檛 even have the veneer of being a journalistic enterprise.害羞草研究所�
She also said she doubted that the lawsuits, even if they resulted in enormous settlements, would convince those who have fallen for that .
害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 going to take a lot more than a secret settlement to dissuade their loyal viewers that they害羞草研究所檙e a credible news source,害羞草研究所� Kirtley said of Fox.
害羞草研究所擭icholas Riccardi, The Associated Press
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