This just in: https://thehill.com/homenews/media/3946538-judge-sanctions-fox-news-for-withholding-evidence-in-dominion-lawsuit/
And I mean this just hit the Internet in the last quarter hour.
In Season 5 of The Wire, there’s a quote I like. “A lie isn’t a side of the story, it’s just a lie”. I’m okay with establishing a precedent that outright lies aren’t automatically protected by free speech rules. We can debate how the courts should handle particular cases, and what burden of proof might be needed, but in a case such as this where there appears to be overwhelming evidence that everyone at Fox knew they were lying the whole time, I’m okay with nailing them to the wall.
On the one hand I like hearing about finally getting some accountability from these bandits. On the other hand I have a very real fear that Trump, Fox, Republicans & co. are so existentially screwed that there’s no longer any upside at all for them to restrain themselves in governing or journalistic practices.
Many of these guys are going to be ruined in many ways, and their only salvation is autocracy. When powerful people backed by a dangerous political movement are in a position like that, it’s… not great.
Cornered rats and such, yeh.
Non paywalled version:
They’ve been there for a while.
Don’t we already have that? The 1st Amendment doesn’t protect us from using libel or slander.
More on sanctions. Judge to appoint a special master
https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/12/media/fox-news-dominion-special-master/index.html
Yes, but at least in the US, protections from libel and slander have been watered down enough that it’s extremely difficult to win a case when the person being lied about is a “public figure”. Add in the effects of the case from a few years ago that claimed Tucker Carlson “wasn’t a journalist”, and a big company like Fox pretty much has a license to lie.