A defamation lawsuit filed by a voting machine company against Fox News over its broadcast of false claims about the 2020 presidential election hit a jury on Friday when a Delaware judge asked the jury whether the network broadcast the claims with actual malice. will be brought to trial after ruling that it must decide. Defamation of public figures.
Superior Court Judge Eric Davis ruled that neither Fox nor Dominion Voting Systems offered a compelling argument to win the case without going to court on whether Fox acted in bad faith. However, he also ruled that the statements Dominion disputed constituted defamation “per se” under New York law. That meant Dominion didn’t have to prove damages to establish liability by Fox.
“The evidence developed in this civil lawsuit makes it very clear (it is) that none of the Dominion-related statements regarding the 2020 election are true,” Davis said in his informal statement. I am writing in the verdict of the judgment.
This decision paves the way for a trial start in mid-April.
Dominion is suing the network for $1.6 billion, and in the weeks after the 2020 election, Fox repeatedly aired false claims made by then-President Donald Trump and his supporters, claiming that the company’s machines and their accompanying Alleging the software defamed the network by claiming it switched votes to Democrat Joe Biden. The network aired the allegations even though internal communications indicated many of its executives and hosts did not believe them.
The company sued Fox News and its parent company, Fox Corporation. In his ruling, Davis said Fox could not escape potential liability by claiming privilege over neutral reporting and opinions.
“FNN’s failure to uncover extensive and contradictory evidence from the public realm and Dominion itself shows that its coverage was not indifferent,” the judge wrote.
In a statement issued after the ruling, Dominion said it was “satisfied that the court dismissed Fox’s allegations and acknowledged as a matter of law that their statements about Dominion were false.” I look forward to going to
Fox emphasized that the case was about First Amendment protections for the media when reporting news.
“Fox will continue to advocate for free speech and the right to a free press as these proceedings move to the next stage,” the network said in a statement.
The report fueled an ecosystem of misinformation around Trump’s 2020 defeat, which has continued ever since.
