Fox News’ payment of hundreds of millions of dollars to settle a defamation case does not end its legal woes, as the network faces other shareholder lawsuits over its spread of election conspiracy theories.
The news giant agreed on Tuesday to pay $787.5 million to voting technology company Dominion, which is suing it for falsely reporting that its electronic ballot boxes were used to rig the 2020 election against Donald Trump.
Parallel to the case Dominion the election technology company Smartmatic sued Fox News for defamation and seeks $2.7 billion in damages.
“Dominion litigation exposed some of Fox’s misconduct and misinformation harm. Smartmatic will expose the rest“, said J.Erik Connollylawyer of Smartmatic.
He added that the company was “committed to clearing its name, recovering the severe damage suffered and holding Fox accountable for undermining democracy”.
Tuesday’s deal, announced just before the process began, was reached for about half of the $1.6 billion Dominion was initially asking for.
He avoided a high-profile trial that would have become a parade of Fox personalities, including its owner, tycoon Rupert Murdoch, and its star host, Tucker Carlson.
Fox News said it was protected by the right to freedom of expression of the First Amendment to the Constitution but acknowledged in a statement an earlier ruling by the presiding judge, according to which the conservative network had broadcast false statements.
US media reported that the channel’s presenters will not have to admit or apologize to the audience for spreading falsehoods, which would likely anger their loyal viewers.
At the center of the trial would be whether Fox News knowingly broadcast the falsehoods.
To win the lawsuit, Dominion would have had to show “actual malice,” that is, that Fox knew the information was wrong or had a “reckless disregard” for the truth.
Since 1964, in the field of communication media, the demonstration is a high bar that constitutes one of the pillars of US legislation.
‘daring’
“The important thing is that the underlying law has not changed.”William Banks, a law professor, told AFP.
“Even if there are bold plaintiffs, they still have the heavy burden of proof”, he added.
Smartmatic sued Fox News in a New York state court in February 2021, alleging that the network knowingly issued more than 100 false claims that its technology was used to rig votes for Joe Biden.
A Fox News spokesman did not respond to a request for comment, but in earlier statements the network denied the allegations.
The Smartmatic complaint cites comments by former Trump attorney Rudy Giuliani and presenters including Lou Dobbs and Jeanine Pirro.
In February, a New York appeals court rejected Fox News’ request to dismiss the case. No trial date has yet been set.
Last month, a Fox News production company filed two lawsuits against the network, alleging that its lawyers coerced it into giving false testimony and also reported a “hostile work environment”.
Fox, according to some reports, is also facing other lawsuits from shareholders accusing it of breaching its fiduciary duties in covering Trump’s whistleblowing.
Murdoch admitted that in the Dominion case some presenters had “backed upTrump’s lie, but denied that the network encouraged those claims, according to court documents filed by Dominion.
Source: AFP
Source: Gestion
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