Fox News Again Urges N.Y. Court To Dismiss Smartmatic's $2.7 Billon Lawsuit

[Dalek]

Fox News Again Urges N.Y. Court To Dismiss Smartmatic's $2.7 Billion Lawsuit

Fox News says its coverage of bogus election-fraud claims was "accurate and disinterested" and is protected by the First Amendment.

www.npr.org

Fox News says a New York court should dismiss Smartmatic's $2.7 billon lawsuit against the cable TV network and some of its hosts, saying its coverage of bogus election-fraud claims is protected by the First Amendment. Fox also says the voting technology company hasn't backed up its allegations of "actual malice" related to its defamation claims.

Smartmatic has accused Fox News of being part of a "disinformation campaign" that amplified former President Donald Trump's debunked claims that the 2020 U.S. election was rigged against him. In response, Fox News says its coverage of Trump's allegations was "accurate and disinterested" and that it was reporting newsworthy claims made by the president.

First Amendment protection of free speech, Fox News says in its filing, "does not dissipate if the allegations strike some as desperate or ultimately fail in court."

Smartmatic disagrees with that narrative. While Fox News highlights the potential "chilling effect" that the lawsuit could have on news outlets, the voting company accuses the cable TV network of defamation and disparagement.

"Without any true villain" in Trump's defeat, Smartmatic said in its court complaint, "defendants invented one."


During the 2020 election, Smartmatic said, its election services were used only in one U.S. voting area: Los Angeles County. But it noted earlier this month that Fox News mentioned the company by name 137 times in a roughly one-month span after the election in its broadcasts and online.

In addition to punitive and other damages, the tech company wants a court to order Fox News and other defendants to fully retract any false statements about Smartmatic. But Fox News is urging the court to throw out the lawsuit as quickly as possible, saying the specter of "billions of dollars in liability" is a threat to journalism.

Click to shrink...

 

[TreeMePls]

...... Isnt this them admitting that what they allowed their hosts to say was actually nonsense statements with zero facts backing them in the first place? ie, the thing theyre being sued for?

 

[Strike]

saying the specter of "billions of dollars in liability" is a threat to journalism.

Click to shrink...

It's not journalism. It's entertainment at best and propaganda at the worst.

 

[bluehat9]

I mean, when you have no facts or sources and just spout garbage, that's journalism?

 

[Malleymal]

They don't care if they admit that they are lying and spewing shit. They already poisoned their viewers with the nonsense.

 

[Squarehard]

"does not dissipate if the allegations strike some as desperate or ultimately fail in court."

Click to shrink...

Then why are you asking the court to dismiss?

Idiots.

 

[AllBizness]

It's not journalism. It's entertainment at best and propaganda at the worst.

Click to shrink...

/Thread

 

[VariantX]

It's not journalism. It's entertainment at best and propaganda at the worst.

Click to shrink...

Yep. Doesn't matter what they call it to try and avoid responsibility, what matters is the real effect that the things their employees say over the air have. They're simply trying to have it both ways. They shouldn't have backed up Trumps garbage but they were far too eager to keep that audience that they crossed a line that put their asses in the crosshairs to some giant lawsuits. Its one thing to air that guy's garbage its another thing to back it up and support the irrational ravings of a narcissist who cant process the idea of losing.