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The President of the United States, Donald Trump, has filed a lawsuit for 10 billion dollars against the BBC for the editing of a documentary in the Panorama series about his speech on January 6, 2021, which he considers defamatory and politically manipulated.
Lawsuit for 10 billion against the BBC
The lawsuit was filed in a federal court in southern Florida and seeks $10 billion in damages, divided into $5 billion for defamation and another $5 billion for alleged violation of Florida's deceptive trade practices act. Trump's attorneys argue that the BBC aired a "false, defamatory, misleading, derogatory, incendiary, and malicious" portrayal of the president in a documentary broadcast one week before the 2024 elections, which purportedly aimed to influence the electoral outcome against him
The Panorama documentary at the center of the case
The lawsuit accuses the British public broadcaster of "cutting and splicing" two distinct segments of Trump's speech from January 6, 2021, separated by about 55 minutes, in order to omit passages where he called for calm and peace among his supporters. According to the president’s lawyers, this editing created the impression that he was directly inciting the attack on the Capitol, distorting the meaning of his words and attributing expressions he never uttered
The response and apologies from the BBC
The BBC had previously acknowledged that the editing of those clips was a "judgment error" and apologized to Trump, acknowledging that the montage could create a misleading impression of his speech. However, the corporation maintains that the mistake does not constitute defamation or a deliberate campaign against the president, and has made it clear to several British and American media outlets that it intends to defend itself vigorously in court
Legal and political debate
Legal experts cited by the U.S. press point out potential procedural obstacles, as the documentary aired in the United Kingdom, and Trump's team will attempt to establish that the content was also accessible in Florida through platforms like BritBox and the use of VPNs. The case is also seen as a new chapter in Trump's confrontation with major public and private media, following previous threats and lawsuits for "electoral interference" against other networks
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