BBC warns of ‘chilling effect’ of Trump lawsuit in motion to have it thrown out
The BBC has warned of the “chilling effect” US President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit would have on “robust reporting on public figures and events”.
It comes after the corporation filed a motion to dismiss Mr Trump’s 10 billion dollar (£7.5 billion) defamation lawsuit over an edit of a Panorama documentary on Monday.
The programme faced criticism last year over an episode broadcast in 2024 for giving the impression the US president had encouraged his supporters to storm the Capitol building in 2021 after he had lost the election to Joe Biden.
In the motion, the BBC cited case law and said: “Early dismissal is favoured given the powerful interest in ensuring that free speech is not unduly burdened by the necessity of defending against expensive yet groundless litigation, which would constrict the breathing space needed to ensure robust reporting on public figures and events.”
Arguing the case should be thrown out, the corporation continued: “All the more so when plaintiff (President Trump) is among the most powerful and high-profile individuals in the world, on whose activities the BBC reports every day.
“The chilling effect is clear.”
Claim
The motion went on to cite a “lack of personal jurisdiction” and a “failure to state a claim” as further reasons for wanting the lawsuit dismissed.
In the 34-page document, the BBC said: “In all, plaintiff (President Trump) falls well short of the high bar of actual malice.
“He fails to plausibly allege facts showing that defendants (BBC) knowingly intended to create a false impression.”
The BBC went on to say “the lack of actual malice is underscored by the fact that the brief clip, which shows 12 seconds of plaintiff’s speech on January 6, is part of an hour-long film with extensive coverage of his supporters and balanced coverage of his path to re-election”.
The corporation also argued Mr Trump’s defamation claim should be dismissed because he cannot show the corporation “purposefully aimed the documentary at Florida”.
Home
The 79-year-old filed the claim against the BBC in the southern district of Florida in December last year, but the BBC said it is “not at home in Florida”.
In the motion to dismiss, the BBC added: “The president has no basis at all to ask this court to exercise jurisdiction over defendants (BBC).”
It also argued it is “not subject to general personal jurisdiction in Florida because they do not engage in substantial and not isolated activity within this state”.
The BBC said that meant it would be “unduly burdensome” to defend Mr Trump’s defamation case in the state.
The corporation added: “These burdens are not outweighed by Florida’s minimal interests in overseeing a dispute about UK entities’ role in a documentary aimed at UK viewers, who fund the BBC by paying the UK licence fee.
“It would be unduly burdensome for these UK defendants to defend themselves in Florida.
“Nor would it be fair to require defendants to litigate in Florida where the BBC took active measures to block Americans from viewing this documentary.”
Following the filing of the motion, a BBC spokesperson said: “We have said throughout we will robustly defend the case against us.
“Put simply – the documentary was never aired in Florida – or the US. It wasn’t available to watch in the US on iPlayer, online or any other streaming platforms including BritBox and BBC Select.
“We have therefore challenged jurisdiction of the Florida court and filed a motion to dismiss the president’s claim.”
Allegations
BBC director-general Tim Davie resigned in November following the allegations that Panorama selectively edited Trump’s speech.
Rhodri Talfan Davies has been confirmed as the corporation’s interim director-general and will take on the role from April 3.
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Trump is already silencing the press in the US. Trump is a venal dictator. His default approach is abuse. Ask his victims, of which there are many.
I dislike the BBC and its multiple gaffes, including the contrived coverage of the Orange buffoon. Nevertheless, I still think that any court that entertains this kind of claim from a man who is a serial liar and offender should be treated with contempt and ridiculed. Of course, Florida is his “backyard” and he thinks that will give him a 100% home win banker. That sums up his shallow personality totally.
There should be a limit to extraterritorial jurisdiction. The US does not accept the jurisdiction of international courts. The BBC has summarised the situation well. Trump is a greedy litigious liar and crook as well as a rapist (who hasn’t yet paid the compensation to the brave lady who sued him). I would hope that any sensible court would see this. However after the inaction by the Texas police and the court in the case of the Cheshire girl who was shot by her own father while he was drunk I am not sure we can expect a good outcome.
Whatever President Trump’s faults, and there are many, Trump was not found guilty of rape. The case involved a civil lawsuit, not a criminal trial. Therefore, Trump was found “liable” (responsible) rather than “guilty” (convicted of a crime) based on the balance of probabilities, hence the verdict does not raise to a criminal conviction where cases are decided using the legal standard of beyond a reasonable doubt; it is perhaps notable that this case did not get to a criminal trial. He may get the verdict reversed on appeal.
By suing the BBC Trump is effectively suing us all. Any money won in court is basically our money, the licence fee payers money. He wants to shut the BBC up, just like he’s tried with multiple media organisations in the US, such as the New York Times. He’s no better than Putin. Ultimately, he needs to be utterly defeated.
BBC is a highly dysfunctional organisation, nepotism, jobs for the boys, etc., runs rife. The image you get of diversity on your screen is superficial, the management and general staffing is overwhelmingly white and middle class/old school tie. It has betrayed the people of this country over and over again. Unfortunately I think it’s time has passed ,
Trump, Putin and Netanyahu = nutters that should be locked up never to see daylight again!!
BBC should countersue for one hundred trillion dollars for reputational damage because he implied they faked his words using AI rather than aggressively editing what he actually did say.
The BBC did wrong and admitted it. It was a stupid thing to do. Thankfully, however, I don’t think Agent Orange has a decent case from a legal perspective. Lucky for both the BBC and us as it is too important to lose, now more than ever.
The face that cost a million lives, give or take…