A $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News for its coverage of false claims surrounding the 2020 presidential election isn’t the only thing putting pressure on the standard for U.S. libel law. Two politicians popular with Fox’s audience, former President Donald Trump and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, have advocated for the Supreme Court to revisit the libel standard that has protected media organizations for more than half a century. Current libel law requires plaintiffs to prove that a news organization acted with reckless disregard for the truth. Fox is using that standard to defend its actions that promoted false claims of voter fraud.
