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That’s only half of the “Gawker Effect”. The other half is Peter Thiel was pissed off that Gawker outed him as gay, then funded Hulk Hogan’s case to sue Gawker

That’s only half of the “Gawker Effect”. The other half is Peter Thiel was pissed off that Gawker outed him as gay, then funded Hulk Hogan’s case to sue Gawker out of existence, because Thiel couldn’t sue them for publishing the truth about his sexuality. I didn’t shed a tear about Gawker’s demise. But the fact that a rich man can sue a media outlet into oblivion, and create an ecosystem of fear and intimidation journalists and sources now have to navigate as a result, is what Masters is speaking of when she uses the term.

ImSkeptical 9y ago
The only reason that Thiel could successfully sue them for such damages is that they did the whole "Publish a sex tape and refuse a judge's order" thing. Without that, or a similar action, then it's not clear that Thiel would have been able to destroy them. If anything, the most problematic part of the story for me, is that Hulk Hogan had to get the backing of a billionaire in order to carry this case to completion. Hogan is a (or was a) celebrity, likely a millionaire, and he couldn't use our court system to press a suite when he had a real case. We seem to be on the exact other extreme of what you are afraid of - typical people, even 1% types, or "Single digit millionaires" as I've heard Thiel say, can't afford to use our legal system. Gawker and the ilk are free from legal challenge except in the case of litigious billionaires looking for revenge.