Lawsuits open new front in misinformation fight in the US

The use of defamation suits has constrained right-wing pundits but also raises uneasy questions about how to police a news media that counts on First Amendment protections.

Fox Business cancelled its highest-rated show, Lou Dobbs Tonight, last Friday after its eponymous host (left) was sued as part of a US$2.7 billion (S$3.6 billion) defamation lawsuit.
Fox Business cancelled its highest-rated show, Lou Dobbs Tonight, last Friday after its eponymous host was sued as part of a US$2.7 billion (S$3.6 billion) defamation lawsuit. PHOTO: REUTERS
Fox Business cancelled its highest-rated show, Lou Dobbs Tonight, last Friday after its eponymous host (left) was sued as part of a US$2.7 billion (S$3.6 billion) defamation lawsuit.
Fox Business cancelled its highest-rated show, Lou Dobbs Tonight, last Friday after its eponymous host (above) was sued as part of a US$2.7 billion (S$3.6 billion) defamation lawsuit. PHOTO: AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
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In just a few weeks, lawsuits and legal threats from a pair of obscure election technology companies have achieved what years of advertising boycotts, public pressure campaigns and liberal outrage could not: curbing the flow of misinformation in right-wing media.

Fox Business cancelled its highest-rated show, Lou Dobbs Tonight, last Friday after its host was sued as part of a US$2.7 billion (S$3.6 billion) defamation lawsuit. Last Tuesday, the pro-Trump cable channel Newsmax cut off a guest's rant about rigged voting machines.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on February 09, 2021, with the headline Lawsuits open new front in misinformation fight in the US. Subscribe