A judge dismissed a lawsuit against Fox News this week after a Washington state-based nonprofit claimed the networks’ hosts spread false information about COVID-19 by suggesting it was a “hoax” or a “conspiracy.”
The Washington League for Increased Transparency and Ethics, a little-known nonprofit group that does not appear to operate a website, had claimed Fox News hosts Sean Hannity and Trish Regan, who has since left the network, made erroneous comments about the coronavirus on March 9.
During the broadcast in question, Mr. Hannity said the media and some politicians were using the pandemic “as a political weapon against the president.”
“The mob and the media — well, they will be advancing their new conspiracy theory and their newest hoax. Probably, they will come up with, hypothetically, I’m just guessing, wouldn’t shock me, President Trump, [Russian President Vladimir] Putin, mad scientists of Russia and Ukraine are manufacturing the coronavirus on purpose so they can hurt innocent children and kill grandma and grandpa,” the prime-time host said, though he also acknowledged “the coronavirus is a serious disease” and people should take precautions.
On the same day, Ms. Regan said Democrats were blaming President Trump for the virus, which originated outside of the U.S., as “another effort to impeach the president.” Although she said people should be careful, she said “the flu itself … can be even more deadly.”
The Washington League for Increased Transparency and Ethics claimed in its lawsuit filed last month that those statements amounted to a violation of the state’s Consumer Protection Act in that the hosts spread incomplete and reckless information about COVID-19, which caused viewers to not take adequate precautions, potentially resulting in “preventable mass death.”
But Judge Brian McDonald of the King County Superior Court in Washington state dismissed the lawsuit on Wednesday.
“The speech in this case involves matters of public concern that is at the heart of the First Amendment’s protection,” the judge wrote in his order.
Fox News cheered the victory as a win for free speech.
“Using a false portrayal of FOX News Channel’s commentary, WASHLITE attempted to silence a national news organization to settle a partisan grievance. 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,” a spokesperson from the network told The Washington Times.
