The defamation action by Dominion (makers of voting machines in the US) over Fox News was settled today for US$787.5 million, just under half of what Dominion had sought in its lawsuit.

So what can one say about this? Short answer: I’m not sure.

If it had proceeded to trial, Fox would have relied on the First Amendment free speech jurisprudence developed by the Supreme Court of the United States, most notably Times v Sullivan decided in 1964 at the height of the US civil rights movement.