Voting Tech Company Settles Lawsuit Against Far-Right News Outlet Over Election Claims

It is the latest development in a larger legal pushback by voting equipment companies ensnared in wild conspiracy theories following the 2020 presidential election.

Smartmatic Sues Two Conservative News Organizations for Defamation

On November 3rd, Smartmatic, an election technology company, sued One America News Network (OANN) and Newsmax for defamation over claims related to the 2020 presidential election. The lawsuits, filed against OANN in Washington D.C. and against Newsmax in Delaware, allege that the conservative news organizations aired dozens of reports accusing Smartmatic of participating in a conspiracy to rig the election against Donald Trump.

Are Defamation Lawsuits Being Used to Rein in Disinformation Spread by News Outlets?

Using defamation suits to combat misinformation has some free speech advocates uneasy, as the First Amendment provides broad protections for news organizations.

Dominion Employee Sues Trump Campaign and Others for Defamation

On December 22nd, Eric Coomer, the Director of Product Strategy and Security for Dominion Voting Systems, filed a suit against President Donald Trump’s campaign, podcast host Joseph Oltmann, Trump’s personal lawyers Rudy Guiliani and Sidney Powell, conservative news outlets One American News Network (OANN) and Newsmax, and others, for defamation and inflicting emotional distress.