A Washington state appeals court upheld the dismissal of a lawsuit alleging that Fox News undermined public heath by calling Covid-19 a hoax. Chief judge Bath Andrus wrote that First Amendment protections outweighed the State’s interest in spreading accurate and truthful information concerning public health. (Times of San Diego, August 30, 2021, by Ken Stone)
The plaintiff, the Washington League for Increased Transparency and Ethics, said the First Amendment was not intended to shield the media from such practices as fraud, and Fox News statements was “injurious to the public interest” in spreading lies about Covid-19. But courts have long protected lies of the news media even ruling that they were not liable for what their words caused people to do. (Syracuse Law Review, May 21, 2020, by Kimberly Manas and Christy O’Neil)