It wasn't 'fined'... it agreed to pay that to settle a civil lawsuit for defamation, rather than go to trial and let a judge/jury award damages to the plaintiff if it lost.
A 'fine' is a penalty/punishment resulting from conviction on a criminal charge brought by county/state/federal prosecutors.
On re-reading that it comes across as brusque, because I edited to fit the character-limt here.
IMHO it's important to say 'chose to pay' rather than 'was fined' because (as with Alex Jones) it was not a '1st Amendment issue' in any sense whatsoever.
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A 'fine' is a penalty/punishment resulting from conviction on a criminal charge brought by county/state/federal prosecutors.
IMHO it's important to say 'chose to pay' rather than 'was fined' because (as with Alex Jones) it was not a '1st Amendment issue' in any sense whatsoever.