Key takeaways:
- Rupert Murdoch and Lachlan Murdoch, chairman and CEO of Fox Corporation, are being asked to testify in a case involving the voting machine company Dominion.
- Dominion lawyers claim that the Murdochs instructed Fox News to “shut down the talk of fact-checking” and “let the hosts run wild” with election conspiracies.
- The case is being closely watched by media and election law experts, as it could set a precedent for how much responsibility news networks have for the content they air.
A Delaware judge is being asked to order Rupert Murdoch, the 92-year-old chairman of Fox Corporation, and his son, CEO Lachlan Murdoch, to testify in a case involving the voting machine company Dominion.
The case centers around private messages that showed Fox News executives knew some of their top hosts were promoting theories that President Trump lost the 2020 election not to Biden, but to theft. Dominion lawyers claim that the Murdochs gave instructions to Fox News to “shut down the talk of fact-checking” and “let the hosts run wild” with election conspiracies.
“They made the decision to let it happen,” Dominion lawyer Justin Nelson said.
Attorneys for both Dominion and Fox are in Delaware Superior Court on Tuesday for a hearing before Judge Eric Davis. Each side is hoping to get the judge to hand them a win without going to trial. If the case moves forward without an approved summary judgement motion or settlement, it will go to trial next month.
The case has been closely watched by media and election law experts, as it could set a precedent for how much responsibility news networks have for the content they air. It is also the first major defamation case against Fox News since the network was acquired by the Murdochs in 2019.
The hearing is ongoing and a decision is expected soon.
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