Fox having to pay a substantial damages settlement to Dominion is a just outcome; their amplification of lies about malicious backdoors and rigged elections was contemptible and dangerous.
But we shouldn't conclude from this that US voting systems are perfectly or even adequately protected against attack. While great progress has been made, there's still a great deal of work left to do to make our elections truly secure and robust.
Fox has paid a price, in both cash and reputational harm. The case didn’t give us the dramatic public trial that might have been, but at least there was a great deal of deposition testimony and other discovery material put on the record. That’s ultimately a win for society, even if it was less dramatic and satisfying than we might have hoped.
And more cases are still in process.
Also, while the settlement amount was about half of the $1.6B that Dominion asked for, it was by no means assured that that's what a jury would have actually awarded, or that a large award wouldn't be reduced by the judge or on appeal.
The damages aspects of the case were complicated, and would likely have involved fairly involved expert testimony by economists, with reasonable arguments for both large and small numbers.
Taking the $787 million was probably a very rational decision.
Matt Blaze
DR_murf