FOX “news” is battling a $1.6 billion lawsuit filed by Dominion Voting Systems, which claims it suffered damage to its reputation and to the lives and safety of its employees because FOX repeatedly aired conspiracy theories about the election. These theories, repeated numerous times on FOX, asserted that the Dominion Voting machines were programmed to flip votes from Trump to Biden. Some who were interviewed numerous times on air by leading talk-show hosts claimed that Dominion machines originated in Venezuela, when left-wing tyrant Hugo Chavez was president.
Depositions of the talk-show hosts and of Rupert Murdoch showed that none of them believed that Trump won the election, yet they continued to feature election deniers. The talk-show hosts laughed at the claims of the election deniers, yet interviewed them repeatedly.
FOX’s defense is that it was reporting the news. Any judgment against FOX, its lawyers say, would restrict freedom of the press. Read the debate here on NPR.
FOX’s lawyers rely on a U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1964, New York Times v. Sullivan. The Times won the case, and the high court made it very difficult to sue a media outlet for defamation or libel.
As a result of that decision, the media and individuals can ridicule public officials without fear of being sued for libel or defamation.
Now, here is the irony: Conservatives don’t like the Sullivan decision. Trump railed against it. Justices Thomas and Gorsuch think it should be “reviewed,” presumably the way they reviewed Roe v. Wade.
Ron DeSantis has initiated legislation that would lower the bar for libel suits against public officials. He wants to be able to sue reporters and newspapers that criticize him.
If DeSantis had his way, FOX would undoubtedly lose its case. FOX now defends its lies by appealing to Sullivan. If DeSantis had his way, Dominion would win, and FOX would lose.
Haha.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
DeSantis definitely wants dominion.
No doubt about that.
Dominion Uber alles
Make that Dumbinion
You cannot invent irony like that, no matter how good you are at writing fiction.
I, Ronny DeSantis, do solemnly swear..
Sullivan is good law and should remain the criteria by which we judge defamation suits. The First Amendment rights of publishers and broadcasters are not absolute but should not be used as cover for vilification with malicious intent. The old test of freedom of speech was that one has no such freedom in yelling “Fire in a crowded theater,” so is claiming that such otherwise freedom to make money and claim that such defamatory language was mere entertainment malicious intent? I tend to see it as Fire! after becoming aware of deposition testimony. Thus while there are other factors to be considered and were considered in the court’s holding on the motion for summary judgment, I think it was a correct holdidng based on the facts and will be interested in the jury’s award of damages at trial.
Gerald E. Read my blog at: elderblogger.wordpress.com and follow me at @GeraldKnows on Twitter
Yes. I would only refine the concept of malicious intent to make it the highest of offenses of its type. Just as treason is elevated to be a constitutionally-sanctioned penalty, so should malicious intent against constitutional governing itself be a higher penalty than, for example, than malicious intent in the private sphere, like that of Jared Kushner’s father which sent him to prison, the proper sanction in that case. This type of malicious intent comes right up to the edge of outright espionage.
Reading the emails between FOX talking heads is bracing. They all knew that Trump lost and that the people defending the Big Lie were either liars or insane or both. They knew they had to keep lying or lose viewers and ratings. It doesn’t get more malicious than that. Especially when you recognize that they were undermining belief in our democratic institutions and firing up militias.
DeSantis is super sensitive about his strong man image because it is an illusion. Like Trump he would like to intimidate the press, educators, librarians and anyone that rejects his manipulative baloney. Lawmakers are also trying to conceal DeSantis’ travel records, while claiming DeSantis is not using tax dollars to fund his campaign travel. If DeSantis has nothing to hide, why is the legislature trying to keep the information from the public?
I have frequently called him a fascist because I truly believe he is. I hope he doesn’t sue me. I rely on Sullivan as protection.
Winning a libel suit is very difficult if one is a public figure and even more difficult if the alleged libel is true.
I won’t write about the time billionaire John Arnold threatened to sue me for writing about him on this blog. I wasn’t aware that he reads the blog but maybe he has a Google alert for anytime his name is mentioned.
Calling someone a “fascist” is pure opinion, and likely not actionable. (I’ve only had fleeting encounters with defamation law.)
However, calling someone a fascist who belongs to Atom Waffen and has helped plan criminal activities for the group is a specific, factual claim that, if false, would be actionable.
Any regular citizens get sued and we could be screwed.
Fox and the Murdoch clan, well, they can settle.
For years the GOPers have whined about wanting “tort reform”.
Now their presumptive leader sues people left and right. He’s after Michael Cohen now for $500 million.
The hypocrisy rolls on and on….
BTW, I’m curious as to what the ACLU’s position is on the Dominion Voting case. Can’t find that…
I was stopped cold at “Fox . . . reporting the news.”
When did that ever happen?
It would be a tragedy of existential proportions if Dominion and Fox are allowed to settle without a public reckoning. It would would be a big win for Fox to allow them to continue to lie.
I don’t think anyone can legally disallow a settlement.