3 ms·
Streisand effect is clear here but also worth pointing out that this is a clear downside of citizen journalism, or even small newsrooms: even if they’re in the
by afavour 2y ago
Streisand effect is clear here but also worth pointing out that this is a clear downside of citizen journalism, or even small newsrooms: even if they’re in the wrong the rich can sue news providers into oblivion via lawyers fees alone.
- ceejayoz 2y agoNot just small newsrooms; Gawker was plenty big. Peter Thiel had a bigger bankroll.
- WarOnPrivacy 2y ago> Not just small newsrooms; Gawker was plenty big. Yes. It was maddening seeing news orgs everywhere yawn at this process. It was an obvious proving ground event - and today is being more widely deployed.
- perihelions 2y agoThe same lawyer who won Gawker threatened the New York Times to not publish their stories about Harvey Weinstein's rapes, - "Weinstein's attorney Charles Harder, who was then known for filing the suit that bankrupted Gawker, said his client would be suing The New York Times,[140] but by October 15, 2017, Harder was no longer working for Weinstein.[141]" https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Weinstein_sexual_abuse_cases#Weinstein's_response https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harvey_Weinstein_sexual_abuse_... There were multiple other news companies (not including the Times) that were successfully dissuaded from publishing anything about the Weinstein accusations, by his litigation threats.
- stg22 2y agoGawker flouted the law. They were publicly sharing an intimate video of Hogan without his consent, he got a court order telling them to stop and they just refused to obey it, stating that they had a first amendment right to do it. Except, Gawker got the constitution wrong - and apparently didn't even ask a lawyer before refusing to obey the order -, which is why the later law against sharing intimate videos without consent is uncontroversial Hogan was in the top 1% and even he couldn't afford justice when a large media organisation committed a blatant violation of his rights. His need for Thiel's support isn't an example of oppression of those organisations, it's an example of their power.
- ceejayoz 2y agoNone of that lines up very well with the summary at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollea_v._Gawker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bollea_v._Gawker, and they couldn't afford an appeal (as they'd have to put up a $50M bond to do so). All this after a Federal court supported their assertions of fair use and First Amendment protections; Hogan then took it to a Florida state court instead.