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If it's drawn to their attention and they don't remove it, that seems reasonable.

by caf 4y ago

Ajedi32 4y ago
But doesn't that effectively deprive the commenter of their legal rights? Instead of suing the commenter for defamation and them then having the opportunity to defend themselves in court, you can just threaten to sue Y Combinator who will then remove the comment without any due process. Unlike the person who posted the comment, Y Combinator has no particular reason to care whether a particular comment stays up; certainly not enough to go to court over it at any rate.
- MichaelZuo 4y ago
  How can a random commenter on HN have legal rights over Y Combinator? Clearly this site is a private organization and not run via the authority of the government.
  - Ajedi32 4y ago
    That's precisely my point. By making Y Combinator the target of the lawsuits, you would deprive the actual accused person of the ability to defend themselves when Y Combinator inevitably capitulates. I can mount a legal defense against a defamation lawsuit; I can't mount a legal defense against Y Combinator deleting my comments because they don't feel like going to court on my behalf.
    - MichaelZuo 4y ago
      What are you speaking of? who is defending themselves against who?
      - Ajedi32 4y ago
        Let's say I post a comment on Hacker News critical of some big megacorp. Megacorp threatens to sue YCombinator if they don't take down my comments. Hacker News deletes my comment because they don't want to get into a legal fight with Megacorp over a random comment. I can't sue Hacker News because they have a right to delete my comments for any reason, and I can't sue Megacorp because they didn't delete my comment, they just asked Hacker News to delete it. I'm SOL. Contrast that to the following: I post a comment on Hacker News critical of some big megacorp. Megacorp can't credibly threaten to sue YCombinator over that because they are legally protected from being sued over the actions of their users. Megacorp sues me instead. I now have the ability to defend myself in court against Megacorp should I choose to.
        MichaelZuo 4y ago
        No private entity enjoys absolute, or even qualified, immunity of any kind from lawsuits in the U.S. as afar as I know. So how could your second case occur?

If it's drawn to their attention and they don't remove it, that seems reasonable.

by caf 4y ago

If it's drawn to their attention and they don't remove it, that seems reasonable.

But doesn't that effectively deprive the commenter of their legal rights? Instead of suing the commenter for defamation and them then having the opportunity to defend themselves in court, you can just threaten to sue Y Combinator who will then remove the comment without any due process. Unlike the person who posted the comment, Y Combinator has no particular reason to care whether a particular comment stays up; certainly not enough to go to court over it at any rate.

MichaelZuo 4y ago
How can a random commenter on HN have legal rights over Y Combinator? Clearly this site is a private organization and not run via the authority of the government.
- Ajedi32 4y ago
  That's precisely my point. By making Y Combinator the target of the lawsuits, you would deprive the actual accused person of the ability to defend themselves when Y Combinator inevitably capitulates. I can mount a legal defense against a defamation lawsuit; I can't mount a legal defense against Y Combinator deleting my comments because they don't feel like going to court on my behalf.
  - MichaelZuo 4y ago
    What are you speaking of? who is defending themselves against who?
    - Ajedi32 4y ago
      Let's say I post a comment on Hacker News critical of some big megacorp. Megacorp threatens to sue YCombinator if they don't take down my comments. Hacker News deletes my comment because they don't want to get into a legal fight with Megacorp over a random comment. I can't sue Hacker News because they have a right to delete my comments for any reason, and I can't sue Megacorp because they didn't delete my comment, they just asked Hacker News to delete it. I'm SOL. Contrast that to the following: I post a comment on Hacker News critical of some big megacorp. Megacorp can't credibly threaten to sue YCombinator over that because they are legally protected from being sued over the actions of their users. Megacorp sues me instead. I now have the ability to defend myself in court against Megacorp should I choose to.
      - MichaelZuo 4y ago
        No private entity enjoys absolute, or even qualified, immunity of any kind from lawsuits in the U.S. as afar as I know. So how could your second case occur?