A Delaware Superior Court Judge Tuesday ruled Fox Corp. must face a lawsuit claiming that Fox News Network published defamatory statements which accused Dominion Voting Systems Inc. of election fraud related to the 2020 US presidential election.

Dominion alleged that Fox News adopted an election fraud narrative, centered on Dominion, to increase its viewers after the 2020 election. Further, Dominion also claimed Fox Corp.’s employees and officers “had ‘direct responsibility’ for airing [defamatory] statements about Dominion.” While Fox argued Dominion’s defamation claims are time-barred, Judge Eric M. Davis ruled that Delaware’s two-year statute of limitations applies and not New York’s one-year statute of limitations.

Judge Davis held that Dominion adequately stated a defamation per se claim against Fox Corp based on direct liability. However, Judge Davis dismissed part of the lawsuit because “Dominion has not adequately pleaded actual malice on the part of Fox Broadcasting.”