Fox News In Hot Water
Fox News is under an aggressive legal attack, principally from the State of Washington, on the basis that it broadcast a long series of lies minimizing the impact of the coronavirus and that, thus far, this has cost thousands of people their lives.
From this article: The state’s suit accused the network of violating the state’s Consumer Protection Act by “falsely and deceptively disseminating ‘news’ via cable news contracts that the coronavirus was a ‘hoax’ and that it was otherwise not a danger to public health and safety.” The suit specifically cited Fox News host Sean Hannity and former Fox Business host Trish Regan for having “acted in bad faith to willfully and maliciously disseminate false information denying and minimizing the danger posed by the spread of the novel coronavirus.”
Understandably, Fox News’ attorneys are fighting back. “It’s Constitutional Law 101: the First Amendment protects our right to speak openly and freely on matters of public concern,” Fox News Media general counsel Lily Fu Claffee said in a statement. “If (Washington State) doesn’t like what we said, it can criticize us, but it can’t silence us with a lawsuit.” Ms. Claffee’s point as follows: “The First Amendment does not permit censoring this type of speech based on the theory that it is ‘false’ or ‘outrageous.’”
I tend to think this lawsuit will ultimately fail, because Fox can argue that this type of speech is not on the list that the First Amendment doesn’t protect:
- Obscenity
- Fighting words
- Defamation (including libel and slander)
- Child pornography
- Perjury
- Blackmail
- Incitement to imminent lawless action
- True threats
- Solicitations to commit crimes
Having said that, I expect criminal prosecution. What Fox News told viewers was not a “solicitation to commit a crime,” but rather that it was a crime.
Imagine that I encountered a hiker who asked me if a certain mushroom was safe to eat, and I said that it was safe, while knowing that it was poisonous; the person ate the mushroom and died as a result. On a good day, that’s manslaughter (reckless endangerment leading directly to the death of a human being); on a bad day it’s second degree murder (intentionally causing the death of a human being, though without premeditation).
Pick one.
