3 ms·

I have no idea why everyone thinks this is doing something unusual. Using lawsuits to stifle free speech is commonplace. For example, using lawsuits to stifle

I have no idea why everyone thinks this is doing something unusual. Using lawsuits to stifle free speech is commonplace. For example, using lawsuits to stifle climate skepticism: https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-04-08/subpoenaed-into-silence-on-global-warming https://www.bloomberg.com/view/articles/2016-04-08/subpoenae... Hillary Clinton was famous for shutting down free speech - her critics had to go all the way to the supreme Court to protect their right to criticize politicians (see citizens united). Or see SPLC vs Aryan Nation, which is exactly some wealthy philanthropists funding a lawsuit by a third party: https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/group/aryan-nations https://www.splcenter.org/fighting-hate/extremist-files/grou... The only thing new about this is that the mainstream media suddenly notices this stuff hitting closer to home.

someguydave 10y ago
Yeah the median 'media' person has no problem with lawsuits against "racists" or "climate deniers". Low-level government employees should know that only their bosses are entitled to leak with impunity. The Gawker lawsuit scares 'media' people because some of them realize that someone might hold them accountable for their shoddy (or nonexistent) research, poor sourcing and clickbaity content.
jonathankoren 10y ago
The thing that makes it unusual is that he's acting in secret and actively soliciting lawsuits he has no interest in, and structures the lawsuits to remove incurable claims because he has a personal vendetta against a media outlet that he doesn't like. If you can't see the difference between working in public against a violent racist organization and a petulant billionaire waiting 7 years to throw a bunch of middle class people out of work, and send a message to the media at large to play nice with him, because he got his feelings hurt, I can't help you.
- yummyfajitas 10y ago
  I can clearly see the difference. Aryan nations is on the other team while gawker is on your team. Incidentally, middle class people worked for Aryan Nation also.
  - jonathankoren 10y ago
    Go back to 8chan.

someguydave 10y ago

Yeah the median 'media' person has no problem with lawsuits against "racists" or "climate deniers". Low-level government employees should know that only their bosses are entitled to leak with impunity. The Gawker lawsuit scares 'media' people because some of them realize that someone might hold them accountable for their shoddy (or nonexistent) research, poor sourcing and clickbaity content.

jonathankoren 10y ago

The thing that makes it unusual is that he's acting in secret and actively soliciting lawsuits he has no interest in, and structures the lawsuits to remove incurable claims because he has a personal vendetta against a media outlet that he doesn't like. If you can't see the difference between working in public against a violent racist organization and a petulant billionaire waiting 7 years to throw a bunch of middle class people out of work, and send a message to the media at large to play nice with him, because he got his feelings hurt, I can't help you.

yummyfajitas 10y ago
I can clearly see the difference. Aryan nations is on the other team while gawker is on your team. Incidentally, middle class people worked for Aryan Nation also.
- jonathankoren 10y ago
  Go back to 8chan.