In the wake of the 2020 U.S. Presidential Election, Dominion Voting Systems sued Fox for defamation. Dominion’s lawsuit alleges that Fox defamed Dominion’s businesses by endorsing, repeating or broadcasting a series of “verifiably false yet devastating lies about Dominion.” Dominion claims that various statements that were made on Fox News, including that Dominion committed election fraud by rigging the 2020 election, that Dominion’s software and algorithms manipulated vote counts in the 2020 election, that Dominion was founded for the purpose of rigging elections, and that Dominion paid kickbacks to government officials who used its machines, were defamatory and false. Dominion seeks over $1.6 billion in damages.

Beginning in February 2023, specific details emerged of internal discussions at Fox in the wake of the 2020 election, revealing that Fox’s understood that claims to the effect that Dominion had rigged the 2020 election were false. As a consequence, Fox faces significant potential legal liability.

As a result of ongoing revelations about Fox’s legal exposure in the Dominion lawsuit, Fox’s Class A stock has declined from a closing price of $37.03 on February 17, 2023 to a closing price of $32.52 on March 15, 2023, a 12.17% decline. Fox’s Class B stock has declined from a closing price of $34.22 on February 17, 2023 to a closing price of $29.83 on March 15, 2023, a 12.8% decline.