News Summary
A New York judge has ordered voting technology company Smartmatic to substantiate its economic harm claims in its defamation lawsuit against Fox News. This ruling requires Smartmatic to present evidence of damages, emphasizing New York law’s requirement for plaintiffs to prove financial losses. Smartmatic attributes its financial losses to alleged defamatory statements made by Fox News, which the network contests, linking the company’s downturn to unrelated legal issues in the Philippines. The lawsuit reflects broader concerns about misinformation related to the 2020 elections.
New York, NY – A New York judge has ordered Smartmatic, a voting technology company, to substantiate its claims of economic harm in its ongoing defamation lawsuit against Fox News. This ruling comes in response to a motion filed by Fox News seeking to dismiss the lawsuit on the grounds that Smartmatic’s reputation was not significantly impacted prior to the network’s coverage of the 2020 elections.
The judge’s directive emphasizes the necessity for Smartmatic to provide concrete evidence of damages as required by New York law, which stipulates that a plaintiff must prove economic harm to prevail in defamation claims. As part of this order, Smartmatic has been mandated to disclose all pertinent documents and communications related to their allegations, which suggests an intensive review of their internal operations and communications.
In its lawsuit, Smartmatic is pursuing special damages reflecting lost profits, thereby necessitating an identification of actual financial losses attributed to the alleged defamatory statements made by Fox News and its on-air personalities. Smartmatic asserts that the misinformation campaign propagated by Fox News is fundamentally responsible for its financial losses. However, the case has been complicated by claims from Fox News that Smartmatic’s business downturn is linked to reasons unrelated to its reporting, including ongoing legal troubles faced by the company’s executives in the Philippines.
Currently, Smartmatic’s president and two executives are embroiled in corruption investigations concerning allegations of bribing a senior election official in the Philippines. Fox News has argued that these legal issues contribute to Smartmatic’s financial struggles, stating that the allegations of bribery emerged separately from the coverage by Fox News regarding the 2020 presidential election.
The ongoing lawsuit includes former Fox News hosts and attorneys for former President Donald Trump, who are alleged to have perpetuated false claims about Smartmatic’s involvement in election fraud. The legal landscape surrounding this case mirrors earlier actions where Smartmatic successfully reached settlements with other media entities regarding similar defamation claims, notably including One America News Network and Newsmax.
In a related judicial decision, a New York appellate court allowed Fox News access to internal documents from Smartmatic that are relevant to a corruption investigation in the United States. This ruling overturned previous lower-court decisions that had prevented such access, highlighting the documents’ critical nature concerning Smartmatic’s claims of lost profits.
Smartmatic’s lawsuit comes after a notable settlement whereby Dominion Voting Systems reached an agreement with Fox News valued at $787.5 million in 2023 for similar defamation claims. However, Fox News has contended that the situations faced by Smartmatic and Dominion are not comparable, arguing that the claims and contexts of the two cases are significantly different, with Dominion’s executives having asserted that any comparison constitutes defamation itself.
The legal representation for Fox has been firm in maintaining that evidence points to Smartmatic’s reputation already being in decline prior to any supposed defamatory coverage from the network. Smartmatic has strenuously denied these allegations, insisting that the coverage by Fox News directly contributed to its economic difficulties, prompting its pursuit of legal action.
The broader implications of this case echo the post-2020 election climate, marked by widespread misinformation that has now been thoroughly investigated and debunked by courts and independent inquiries. As the case evolves, Fox News has reiterated its commitment to defending its rights to press freedoms amidst these ongoing developments with Smartmatic.
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