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The BBC has asked a court to dismiss a multi-billion dollar lawsuit filed by Donald Trump, arguing that the Florida court lacks jurisdiction. The broadcaster stated that the Panorama episode in question—which featured edited sections of a Trump speech—was never aired in the U.S. and was unavailable on iPlayer or any American streaming platforms.
President Trump is suing for defamation over the way Panorama spliced together his speech, which he claims made it appear that he had directly encouraged his supporters to storm the US Capitol on 6 January 2021.
The lawsuit - filed in Florida - accuses the BBC of "intentionally, maliciously, and deceptively doctoring" his speech.
The BBC has previously apologised to Trump over the Panorama edit, but rejected his demands for compensation and disagreed there was a basis for a defamation and trade practices claim.
In the court documents, the corporation said "the chilling effect is clear" when an individual as powerful and high profile as Trump - on whose activities the BBC reports every day - raises a claim like this.
The corporation's motion to dismiss the case claims the Florida court lacks "personal jurisdiction" over it, according to the documents. It says the BBC aired the programme, called Trump: A Second Chance?, on its UK TV channels and its UK streaming service, iPlayer, but did not publish it in the US, including Florida. It also says that neither BBC or BBC Studios has its principal place of business in Florida, "or is even licensed to do business in the state".
Trump's lawsuit had claimed people in Florida may have accessed the programme using a virtual private network (VPN) or via the streaming service BritBox, but the BBC argued this was not correct.
"The BBC has never made the documentary available on BritBox, BBC.com, or any other distribution platform available in the US," the documents stated.
"The BBC prohibits the unauthorised use of VPNs to watch iPlayer from outside the UK and takes active steps to enforce this ban," they add.
Steps include stating in its terms of use that VPN access is barred and using the GeoGuard service to block unauthorized users with IP addresses located outside the UK, the BBC said.
