UPDATE Feb 28, 2024
It's been accepted by the court but won't get assigned until I mail the $405 check for the fee, heh, oops. Still :-) Feb 22, 2024
On March 31, 2023, the Delaware State Superior Court decided DOMINION VOTING SYSTEMS V FOX CORPORATION found that Fox could be held liable for a pervasive, and persistent effort to fulfill a political narrative that the 2020 Presidential Elections were "rigged", blaming Dominion Voting Systems among others, and presented wild conspiracy theories about Hugo Chaves conspiring from the grave, in an aggressive effort to misinform the US electorate. Fox settled out of court for $787 Million Dollars to Dominion and made a couple of token apologies on the air for misrepresenting facts. Fox News is not an American company, it is owned by Ruppert Murdoch, et al. A foreign company, spreading wholesale lies to the American electorate, with the political goal of affecting the outcome of the 2020 election, and deliberations of Congress after Jan 6. The monetary damages do not begin to scratch the surface of how much damage they have done to the American People, and I argue that the court should compel the FCC to pull their license until they can figure out how to undo the damage they've done and put forward a satisfactory plan that these kinds of politically motivated intentional falsehoods will no longer be part of their business model moving forward. The complaint asks the court to compel the FCC to do their regulatory duty, without fear or favor. The 130-page ruling of Judge Eric Davis, link below, is quite an eye-opener filled with facts and evidence that were not in dispute, why on earth has the FCC not taken action?
Free speech and freedom of the press are among our most cherished rights, but intentionally passing off known lies about elections as truth (the Delaware Court finds), is not a right. " Statements of Fact or Mixed Opinion, Like Those Presently at Issue, Are Not Protected by the Privilege for Opinion", says Judge Davis at least a dozen times as he cites evidence, I would argue that it is also not protected by the 1st Amendment when it can be established that intent to deceive and or cause malicious damage exists.
You can't say "people are saying" when you know what they're saying isn't true, and then tell your guest "Thank you for coming on our show and telling the truth" when you know they are lying, nor can you call yourself "fair and balanced" when you know you are neither.
As part of the settlement conditions (which was originally for 1.6B in damages), Fox was required to admit guilt in writing, which they did under oath. How can the FCC be silent on this? There are no facts to dispute. "We are pleased to have reached a settlement of our dispute with Dominion Voting Systems," the network said Tuesday in a statement. "We acknowledge the Court’s rulings finding certain claims about Dominion to be false. This settlement reflects FOX’s continued commitment to the highest journalistic standards. We are hopeful that our decision to resolve this dispute with Dominion amicably, instead of the acrimony of a divisive trial, allows the country to move forward from these issues." (fox official statement from their lawyers)
I for one, would like to see what the settlement agreement said. https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/23739295-ruling-dominionrlg033123?responsive=1&title=1
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