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A Washington State nonprofit WASHLITE filed a lawsuit against Fox News for their network hosts downplaying the coronavirus.

The group accused Fox News of violating the Washington State’s Consumer Protection Act by falsely stating in February and March broadcasts that the novel coronavirus was a hoax, downplaying the crisis in a way that potentially undermined efforts to slow the spread of the disease.

Yesterday, Fox News filed a motion to get the lawsuit thrown out.

Fox News motion asks that a Washington State trial court firmly and swiftly reject the claims filed by WASHLITE, an activist group seeking to impose a judicial gag order on Fox opinion commentary regarding the Coronavirus outbreak.

As explained in the motion, WASHLITE's "claims here are frivolous because the statements at issue are core political speech on matters of public concern. The First Amendment does not permit censoring this type of speech based on the theory that it is 'false' or 'outrageous.' Nor does the law of the State of Washington." Accordingly, the motion calls upon the court to dismiss as a matter of law WASHLITE's misguided attempt to use a lawsuit to stifle Fox News commentary or the viewpoints of its hosts.

Sean Hannity and others at Fox News downplayed the virus just like the President of the United States did.

Fox News argues that the lawsuit is taking aim at free speech.

Hannity might need to update his graphic above from 0 to 25,000+ and counting.