Fox News Slapped With $1.6B Lawsuit By Dominion For False Election Claims

Fox News is being sued for $1.6 billion dollars by Dominion Voting Systems over its false 2020 election claims, making it the first media organization targeted by the company.

According to the Associated Press, Dominion is seeking damages for defamation, claiming Fox “sold a false story of election fraud in order to serve its own commercial purposes, severely injuring Dominion in the process.”

“The truth matters. Lies have consequences,” a copy of the lawsuit reads. “If this case does not rise to the level of defamation by a broadcaster, then nothing does.”

Dominion’s expanding legal efforts previously targeted individuals, including MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, and former President Donald Trump's attorneys Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, who frequently made their false claims on Fox News.

Fox later broadcast segments walking back those assertions, and election fraud proponents like Powell and Giuliani eventually vanished from its platform. Other conservative media outlets followed suit in fear of looming legal action.

But the damage was already done for Dominion, which notes death threats received by its employees and “enormous and irreparable economic harm.” One employee went into hiding because of the threats and sued the Trump campaign, columnists, and the networks Newsmax and One America News Network.

Dominion’s lawsuit alleges that Fox was driven by declining ratings after the election to “lure viewers back -- including President Trump himself -- by intentionally and falsely blaming Dominion for President Trump’s loss.”

Trump and his supporters, however, have been noticeably cooler toward the network following the election and Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Political fragmentation and an unwillingness to center coverage on the riots drove Fox's ratings down 20% in the first two weeks of 2021.

Another voting machine company, Smartmatic, has also sued Fox for a similar amount.