The youngest son of Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch said media outlets who peddled false claims about the election are responsible for the violence that led to four deaths at the U.S. Capitol.
In an interview with the Financial Times that was published on Friday, James Murdoch said the five deaths resulting from the siege at the U.S. Capitol is “proof positive that what we thought was dangerous is indeed very, very much so.”
Murdoch did not mention his father’s network by name, but has been critical of Fox News in the past for its reporting on climate change as wildfires ripped through Australia last year.
“Those outlets that propagate lies to their audience have unleashed insidious and uncontrollable forces that will be with us for years,” James said. “I hope that those people who didn’t think it was that dangerous now understand, and that they stop.”
Murdoch resigned from the board of directors of News Corp last summer. The company also owns the Wall Street Journal and the New York Post. His brother
“My resignation is due to disagreements over certain editorial content published by the company’s news outlets and certain other strategic decisions,” a statement about the resignation read.
In a separate statement that was published after the FT interview, Murdoch and his wife wrote: “Spreading disinformation — whether about the election, public health or climate change — has real-world consequences.”
