A New York State appeals court on Thursday rejected a request by Rupert Murdoch’s Fox Corporation to dismiss part of a $2.7 billion defamation lawsuit stemming from the broadcasting of misinformation around the 2020 presidential election.
The lawsuit, filed by Smartmatic, a voting technology company, is on track to proceed to trial in state court in Manhattan, although the parties could settle the case out of court.
Smartmatic sued Fox in February 2021, accusing the media conglomerate of defaming it by mentioning its name among false claims of vote-rigging in the 2020 election that were repeatedly aired on Fox News.
Fox News agreed in 2023 to pay $787.5 million to settle a similar lawsuit by Dominion Voting Systems, a different voting technology company.
On Thursday, a five-judge panel in the First Department of the New York State Supreme Court’s Appellate Division affirmed a previous ruling denying Fox’s motion to have Smartmatic’s suit dismissed.
The judges said they found that Smartmatic’s claims that Fox Corporation directed Fox News to promote “a disinformation campaign in the post-election coverage, along with the allegations of Fox Corporation’s active participation in Fox News Network’s daily operations in connection with that coverage,” were sufficient to proceed with the case.
A lawyer for Smartmatic, Erik Connolly, said that “Fox Corporation attempted, and failed, to have this case dismissed, and it must now answer for its actions at trial.”
In a statement, a Fox spokeswoman said, “We will be ready to defend this case surrounding extremely newsworthy events when it goes to trial.” She added, “As a report prepared by our financial expert shows, Smartmatic’s damages claims are implausible, disconnected from reality and on their face intended to chill First Amendment freedoms.”
