Fox News Settles with Dominion Voting Systems in Landmark Defamation Lawsuit

In the eyes of conservatives, the trial was a test for free speech. For Democrats, an opportunity to expose misinformation that undermines the democratic process. Voting machine company Dominion Voting Systems sued the Conservative channel for libel Fox News, in March 2021. She was seeking $1.6 billion in damages for being accused for weeks on air of tampering with the results of the 2020 presidential ballot in favor of Joe Biden. The left was delighted to follow the parade at the helm of the stars of Fox News, even of their boss, Rupert Murdoch. Already the survey had shown that the presenters themselves did not believe in the conspiracy theories propagated by Donald Trump, although they echoed them.

Half the country remained hungry. As the jury selection process began in a civil court in Delaware on Tuesday, April 18, the trial was canceled and the case declared closed: the two parties had reached an amicable settlement. According to this agreement, Dominion, a company with a turnover of 17.5 million dollars (about 16 million euros), will pocket 787.5 million, a record for a defamation lawsuit. The stock price immediately rose. Dominion CEO John Poulos was pleased that Fox had “admitted to lying” about his firm. “Honestly passing on information is essential to our democracy”he said.

Fox News chose to pay – and ” pay a lot “, notes the press – to avoid the unpacking which was announced in front of the jury. Rupert Murdoch’s empire should recover without too much difficulty: its turnover amounted to 14 billion dollars in 2022. The group’s news division, which generates around 1 billion in turnover per year, remains comfortably installed at the forefront of cable channels in the United States.

Explosive emails and text messages

The settlement disappointed those who dreamed that the hosts of the channel, caught in the act of hypocrisy, would be forced to testify at the hearing. They also hoped the channel would be ordered to publicly issue a mea culpa for knowingly spreading lies. But nothing like that is in the negotiated settlement, according to the elements that have leaked.

The planet’s favorite channel MAGA (“Make America Great Again”, Trump supporters) devoted only six minutes to a legal twist that its rivals placed at the top of their news bulletins. “This agreement reflects Fox’s continued commitment to the highest standards of journalism”, reacted the parent company of Fox in a press release. In the evening, host Tucker Carlson took on his usual role as the slayer of the liberal left. Today’s guest was Elon Musk.

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