WILMINGTON, Del—The judge in the Fox News defamation case announced today that the parties had reached a settlement in their lawsuit, just as the parties were about to begin a six-week trial. Dominion Voting Systems had filed the lawsuit against Fox News alleging that the network repeatedly broadcast false statements about Dominion’s voting machines in the wake of the 2020 presidential election.

The following can be attributed to Katie Fallow, senior counsel at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University.

“While New York Times v. Sullivan provides critical First Amendment protection to the press in covering public officials and other powerful figures, the evidence gathered by Dominion suggests that Fox News crossed the line from simply reporting on the ‘Big Lie’ to knowingly spreading misinformation. This is the rare case where imposing financial liability on a media outlet for publishing false statements seems to be justified.”

Dominion had asked for $1.6 billion in damages. Fox settled for $787.5 million.

For more information, contact: Adriana Lamirande, adriana.lamirande@knightcolumbia.org.