Defamation suit against Fox News by head of dismantled disinformation board tossed by federal judge

2024-12-26 08:28:36 source:lotradecoin charts category:reviews

A defamation suit against Fox News by a government official who served on a short-lived U.S. government media disinformation board was dismissed Monday by a federal judge.

The lawsuit from Nina Jankowicz alleged that Fox had defamed her on numerous occasions, leading to waves of online attacks and threats of violence after the formation of the Disinformation Governance Board, where she served as a director.

In May of 2022, just weeks after its launch, the Department of Homeland Security paused the board’s work and accepted Jankowicz’s resignation. The board was officially dissolved and its charter rescinded in August of that same year.

In rejecting Jankowicz’s claims, the judge said that 36 of the 37 statements made on Fox News programs were about the disinformation board and not Jankowicz. The judge ruled that the remaining statement — which was also a reference to the board and not Jankowicz, despite showing an image of her as it was said — was not disinformation because it was a factual statement that matched the wording in the board’s own charter describing its purpose.

The disinformation board was launched by the Department of Homeland Security in an effort to counter disinformation coming from Russia as well as misleading information that human smugglers circulate to target migrants hoping to travel to the U.S.-Mexico border.

RELATED COVERAGE Officials to release video of officer shooting Black woman in her home after responding to 911 call A man on death row for a 1998 murder asks Utah’s parole board for mercy Miss Kansas called out her abuser in public. Her campaign against domestic violence is going viral

Dozens of Republican lawmakers and conservative pundits took to social media immediately after the board’s launch, calling for it to be disbanded.

In April of last year, Fox News agreed to pay Dominion Voting Systems nearly $800 million to avert a trial in the voting machine company’s lawsuit that would have exposed how the network promoted lies about the 2020 presidential election.

More:reviews

Recommend

Drew Barrymore Addresses Criticism Over Her Touchiness With Talk Show Guests

Drew Barrymoreis through accepting limits 'cause someone says they're so.The Drew Barrymore Showhost

102 African migrants detained traveling by bus in southern Mexico; 3 smugglers arrested

MEXICO CITY (AP) — Authorities detained two buses carrying 102 migrants from African nations in the

Australians prepare for their first cyclone of the season

BRISBANE, Australia: (AP) — Residents have begun evacuating and battening down homes and businesses