On February 21, 2023, members of the activist group Rise and Resist gathered at the News Corp. headquarters in New York City to participate in their weekly "Truth Tuesday" protest. Fox Corp., the parent company of Fox News and Fox Business Network, has been facing a $1.6 billion defamation lawsuit from Dominion Voting Systems, which accuses the networks and its personalities of making false claims that the company's voting machines rigged the results of the 2020 election.
Fox has consistently denied making knowingly false claims about the election, and has argued that their First Amendment rights are being violated by the lawsuit. The court case has resulted in the questioning of Fox Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch and his son, Fox CEO Lachlan Murdoch, as well as Fox's chief legal and policy officer Viet Dinh.
Recently released court papers reveal snippets of the evidence gathered by Dominion, including Murdoch's acknowledgement that Fox's TV hosts endorsed false election fraud claims, and the fact that Fox executives and TV anchors were skeptical about claims that the election between Joe Biden and Donald Trump was rigged.
Fox has also targeted Dominion's private-equity owner in court papers, and the company has argued that Dominion's requested damages of $1.6 billion is not connected to its financial value. In response to Dominion's lawsuit, Fox released a statement saying that "Dominion's lawsuit has always been more about what will generate headlines than what can withstand legal and factual scrutiny."
Dominion spokesperson has stated that "The damages claim remains. As Fox well knows, our damages exceed $1.6 billion."
The lawsuit is being closely followed by First Amendment watchdogs and experts. The case is set to go to trial in mid-April, and a status conference is scheduled for next week.