Not only in U.S. courts are the businesses tied to longtime media figure Rupert Murdoch facing challenges.
As highlighted in a new report from The Washington Post about certain elements of the situation, Prince Harry — the member of the British royal family — has been challenging a Murdoch-tied company in the U.K. over allegations of phone hacking, claiming to have gotten support from the late Queen Elizabeth II for at least his general pursuit of accountability. Per the Post, Harry is suing News Group Newspapers, which is a corporate entity presently responsible for the tabloid known as The Sun and previously behind News of the World until that paper’s unceremonious shutdown amid other accusations of involvement with wide-ranging hacking targeting various figures, both public and private.
News Group Newspapers traces back to Murdoch’s U.S.-based News Corp, separate from the Fox corporation he also leads — and where there have also been legal troubles over involvement with lies about the 2020 presidential election back in the United States. Recently, Fox agreed on a settlement with the election technology company Dominion Voting Systems that would see it paying over three-quarters of a billion dollars. The settlement deal was secured just before opening statements at trial would have begun. Although the total that was set to be obtained by Dominion is less than the previously stated dollar amount they wanted at trial, there is the added benefit of essentially ending the dispute instead of diving into what could be lengthy appeals after however the trial would have even ended.
John Poulos, the CEO of Dominion, also discussed after the deal how he felt it effectively responded to concerns of meaningful accountability for Fox and helping the targeted company’s personnel move forward.
In the U.K. case, Harry has alleged a connection to The Sun, which remains operational. “Harry is suing Murdoch’s News Group Newspapers (NGN) at the High Court in London for unlawful acts — including hacking his voice mails — that he alleges were committed on behalf of the Sun and the now-defunct News of the World tabloids from 1994 until 2016,” the Post said. The case was set for court consideration this week of whether to proceed to trial.
