Austrian broadcaster sues nationalist for 'fake news' claim

BERLIN (AP) - Austria's public broadcaster is suing the country's vice chancellor for claiming it spreads fake news.

Broadcaster ORF says nationalist politician Heinz-Christian Strache shared a post on Facebook earlier this month that defamed and discredited the work of 800 journalists.

The Freedom Party politician had shared a post accusing ORF of spreading "fake news, lies and propaganda" on all of its channels. It also directly targeted one of the country's most prominent journalists, Armin Wolf. Strache has offered to apologize to Wolf.

ORF chief Alexander Wrabetz says the broadcaster wants Strache to desist from his claims and reserves the right to seek damages.

In a statement sent to The Associated Press on Tuesday, Wrabetz said the broadcaster is also suing Facebook for refusing to remove the post shared by Strache.