The historic lawsuit brought against Fox News by voting tech company Dominion Voting Systems has been settled, according to reports.
The suit, which initially sought $1.6 billion dollars in damages based on the network’s airing of false claims that Dominion was complicit in mass voter fraud during the 2020 election, resulting in Donald Trump’s loss to Joe Biden, “uncovered a trove of stunning internal Fox communications that showed hosts and others in the company were aware that they were airing bogus claims but did so nonetheless, apparently out of fear that viewers would flock to other right-wing outlets,” MSNBC reported.
Dominion Voting Systems legal team announces $787.5 million settlement with Fox:
"Lies have consequences. … Today represents a ringing endorsement for truth and for democracy." pic.twitter.com/fx6eIJaznv
— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) April 18, 2023
From MSNBC’s Jordan Rubin: That’s not to say that a complete victory would have been a sure thing for Dominion, depending upon what it wanted to accomplish. To win at trial, it would have needed to prove not only that the claims were false, but that they were broadcast with “actual malice,” meaning with knowledge of their falsity or reckless disregard of whether they were true. As a general matter, it’s a notoriously tough legal standard for plaintiffs to meet. And even if Dominion won at trial, the amount of damages it would have recovered from Fox wasn’t certain.
According to a statement from Dominion’s lawyer Justin Nelson, the network settled the case for $787.5 million. “The truth matters, lies have consequences,” he said.
Smartmatic USA, another voting tech company with its own multi-billion defamation suit against in the works, released a statement after the verdict saying that Dominion’s suit “exposed some of the misconduct and damage caused by Fox’s disinformation campaign. Smartmatic will expose the rest.”
“Smartmatic remains committed to clearing its name, recouping the significant damage done to the company, and holding Fox accountable for undermining democracy,” Smartmatic lawyer Erik Connolly said.
