Fox News Defeats Lawsuit Saying It Mocked Virus Threats

(Bloomberg) -- Fox News persuaded a Washington state judge to toss a lawsuit accusing the network of misinforming the public by downplaying the dangers of the coronavirus.

A nonprofit had alleged Fox violated the state’s Consumer Protection Act through the “deceptive” conduct of minimizing the threat of Covid-19 during the early stages of the U.S. outbreak.

The “professed goal in this lawsuit -- to ensure that the public receives accurate information about the coronavirus and Covid-19 -- is laudable,” Judge Brian McDonald said in his ruling. “However, the means employed here, a CPA claim against a cable news channel, runs afoul of the protections of the First Amendment.”

Fox had argued that the lawsuit by the Washington League for Increased Transparency and Ethics was barred by the U.S. Constitution’s guarantee of freedom of the press.

“Using a false portrayal of Fox News Channel’s commentary, WASHLITE attempted to silence a national news organization to settle a partisan grievance,” the network said in a statement.

An attorney for WASHLITE said the group will appeal and declined to comment further.

Read More: Fox News Meets Feisty Judge in Case Over Virus ‘Hoax’

Fox argued in a filing that its on-air hosts never described the coronavirus as a “hoax” or a “conspiracy,” as WASHLITE claimed. Instead, the network said, those terms were used to comment on efforts by Democrats to criticize President Donald Trump’s response to the pandemic for political gain.

“This was not only wrong, but contemptuous of the foundation of free speech and we are both pleased the court dismissed this frivolous case and grateful to the First Amendment community that rallied to our side,” Fox said in the statement.

McDonald disagreed with WASHLITE’s argument that Fox, as a cable programmer, doesn’t have the same First Amendment rights enjoyed by newspapers and broadcast television stations.

“These assertions do not hold up to scrutiny,” he said.

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