DeSantis Steps Up Attacks on News Media, Hosts Roundtable on How to Combat Defamation With Lawsuits
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) hosted an hour-long panel discussion on defamation Tuesday with media libel experts, lawyers, and journalists in front of a big display that read “TRUTH” in all capital letters. The conversation largely focused on how government can make it easier to sue media companies for defamation.
DeSantis hyped the event by declaring, “Legacy media outlets have embraced the practice of laundering character attacks through the use of anonymous sources.”
“This allows these outlets to harm the reputations of the average citizen without affording the individual the ability to fight back,” the Republican added.
DeSantis was joined for the discussion, which took place on what looked like a newsroom set, by a conservative lawyer who represents Dominion Voting Systems Inc. – the company suing Fox News, Rudy Giuliani, and others for spreading former President Donald Trump’s 2020 election conspiracy theories. The inclusion of a Dominion lawyer on the panel raised eyebrows on the far-right with election conspiracy theorist Mike Lindell tweeting, “DeSantis hosting Dominion lawyer Libby Locke! He is showing his true colors!”
The panel also included Nick Sandmann, a former Kentucky high school student who sued and settled with media companies, and libertarian journalist Michael Moynihan.
“Now it seems you pursue the narrative, you’re trying to advance the narrative and trying to get the clicks, and the fact-checking and contrary facts has just fallen by the wayside,” DeSantis said during the discussion, which was broadly seen as part of his ramping up for his presidential run.
“DeSantis is signaling plans to ramp up his attack on the news industry ahead of his likely 2024 run for president,” reported Politico on the event.
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press condemned the discussion in a statement defending press protections:
For nearly 60 years, Supreme Court justices and judges across the country — appointed by both parties — have applied the ‘actual malice’ standard, reflecting a national consensus that it’s both vital and necessary to protect free speech and our free press. The Florida governor’s wish for a bill that would undo long standing press freedom protections signals another front in his war on the First Amendment.
DeSantis mentioned some specific news stories he believed illustrated his point. “The swan song has been this Russia collusion hoax because they indulged in that for for two years and it was almost all based on anonymous sources and it all eventually was debunked,” DeSantis said, adding:
And even in real-time, people were saying this, but they just kept cycling in this. And I think it just raises the question, you know, this obsession with these anonymous sources. Where did that come from? It used to be rare that you would do it. I mean, to assassinate someone’s character with anonymous sources would have been a total no no. Now it’s just kind of like a normal and actually the preferred method of being able to deliver content.
While DeSantis did not detail any specific policy proposals during the roundtable, he did call on Florida’s legislature to take action to “protect” Floridians.
DeSantis framed the issue as a kind of David versus Goliath battle, where he claimed the media can steamroll everyday Americans.
“When the media attacks me, I have a platform to fight back. When they attack everyday citizens, these individuals don’t have the adequate recourses to fight back,” DeSantis declared, saying, “But you have some of these other folks who are just run-of-the-mill citizens, their only possible way of recourse would be to be able to bring an action [in court].”
“It would contribute to an increase in ethics in the media and everything if they knew that if you smeared somebody, it’s false and you didn’t do your homework then you have to be held accountable for that,” DeSantis argued, raising the prospect of either weakening libel laws or adding regulations on media.
Politico noted that DeSantis was taking a page out of Trump’s political playbook:
DeSantis’ criticism of the media is similar to those of former President Donald Trump, who regularly condemned media outlets like the Washington Post and the New York Times. In 2018, Trump also suggested that he’d try to change libel laws to make it easier to sue news organizations.
Ironically, DeSantis was subject to a slanderous attack by Trump on Tuesday. The former president shared a meme alleging DeSantis was “grooming high school girls with alcohol as a teacher.”
Watch the full event above.
