This month, Sinclair Broadcast Group has flooded a vast network of local news websites with misleading articles suggesting that President Biden is mentally unfit for office. The articles are based on specious social media posts by the Republican National Committee (RNC), which are then repackaged to resemble news reports. The thinly disguised political attacks are then syndicated to dozens of local news websites owned by Sinclair, where they are given the imprimatur of mainstream media brands, including NBC, ABC, and CBS.
At what point do these kind of lies, SPECIFICALLY DESIGNED TO CURTAIL HIS FURTHER EMPLOYMENT begin to count as illegal?
When does it meet the New York Times v. Sullivan requirement for “actual malice”?