Fox News's 'vitriolic lies' present clear threat to US democracy , top expert warns - The Guardian
The woman suing Rupert Murdoch's Fox News for defamation in the wake of the $787m settlement with the voting machine company Dominion has accused the media giant of waging a campaign of "vitriolic lies" against her that amounts to a threat to democracy. Nina Jankowicz sued Fox News and its parent company Fox Corporation for allegedly damaging her reputation as a specialist in conspiracy theories and disinformation campaigns. The lawsuit was lodged in a Delaware state court exactly a year after she resigned as executive director of a new Department of Homeland Security unit combatting online disinformation.
The Disinformation Governance Board was abruptly shut down in the wake of a storm of virulent rightwing criticism, allegedly fueled by Fox News. Jankowicz and the new DHS division she led were attacked as being part of a conspiracy to censor rightwing comment spearheaded by Joe Biden. Jankowicz resigned from the federal post on 18 May 2022, barely three weeks into the job. In an interview with the Guardian, she said her motive in suing Fox was to ensure accountability for what she alleged was a campaign of lies against her that undermined American democracy.
"There needs to be consequences," she said. "It was lies, very personal and very vitriolic lies. And I don't think that is democratic." She added that what she claimed was Fox's reckless disregard for the truth had implications for the future of the country. "If we can't agree on statements of fact, how can you live in a democracy?" Jankowicz was announced as the head of the new disinformation board on 27 April last year and was instantly engulfed in a tempest of rightwing anger. In the lawsuit, Jankowicz's lawyers allege that the attacks skyrocketed the following day, after Fox News hosts began fuelling the hatred with unfounded claims about her desire to censor rightwing voices.
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https://www.theguardian.com/media/2023/may/19/fox-news-lawsuit-nina-jankowicz
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