A New York state appeals court rejected Fox News' bid to dismiss a multibillion-dollar defamation lawsuit accusing the network of falsely accusing an electronic voting systems company of helping rig the 2020 U.S. presidential election to favor Joe Biden over Donald Trump, reports Reuters.
In a 5-0 decision, the Appellate Division in Manhattan said Smartmatic USA alleged in "detailed fashion" how Fox News and some anchors and guests "effectively endorsed and participated in (defamation) with reckless disregard for, or serious doubts about" whether the company engaged in election fraud.
Smartmatic had sought $2.7 billion in damages, saying Fox News knowingly lied about its technology and how it was used in order to boost ratings, and keep Trump supporters from defecting to the right-wing networks Newsmax and One America News.
Fox News has long said its job was to inform the public, and that airing fraud claims was protected by the U.S. Constitution's First Amendment.
Tuesday's decision lets Smartmatic continue its cases against Fox News, host Maria Bartiromo and former host Lou Dobbs.
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