Voting-Machine Company Sues Fox News For Defamation Over Election Claims

Voting-machine company Smartmatic is suing Fox News for allegedly making defamatory comments on-air about the company’s products after the 2020 election. Smartmatic, along with Dominion Voting Systems, faced allegations that their software changed votes cast for former President Donald Trump to votes for President Joe Biden. This claim was disputed by both companies, and later dismissed by U.S. courts. Smartmatic's lawsuit claimed that Fox hosts Lou Dobbs, Maria Bartiromo, and Jeanine Pirro, and two former Trump lawyers Rudy Giuliani and Sidney Powell, conspired to spread a "disinformation campaign" that the company helped rig the election. In December, Smartmatic sent Fox a letter demanding “a full and complete retraction of all false and defamatory statements and reports published by Fox News.” Fox responded by airing a short segment addressing misinformation about Smartmatic. Smartmatic's lawsuit comes after another Dominion also sued Giuliani and Powell for $1.3 billion. Fox News called the lawsuits "meritless" and says it plans to fight it in courts. The $2.7 billion suit was filed on Thursday in New York state court and is one of the largest libel suits ever issued. Outlets from the center and the right tended to focus on the details of the lawsuit. Some left-rated outlet used Dominion's claim of a "disinformation campaign" to criticize Fox News.