we're rarely if ever afraid of losing a defamation case its the cost of even trying to defend yourself that gets you - ThreadSky

lukeplunkett.com • 37 days ago

we're rarely if ever afraid of losing a defamation case

its the cost of even trying to defend yourself that gets you

It's difficult to overstate just how much professional journalists have been trained to fear defamation lawsuits and how much it has impacted the ability to tell the truth

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thetabletopmisfits.bsky.social•37 days ago

One wonders why the legal system even requires you pay lawyers... it's like they created a system just to make them rich! I mean if I were being sued for defimation, I would show up in court with the first amendment, and hand out copies each time.

morthasa.bsky.social•37 days ago

An enlightening clarification

lukeplunkett.com•37 days ago

to put that in practical terms, at least one major story from my last year at kotaku (not written by me, just there at the time) was cleared by legal but binned by G/O management

lukeplunkett.com•37 days ago

related: meanwhile in the uk i heard that republishing this headline (cant remeber if they ever actually ran it there or not) was a code red situation for kotaku uk because of britains defamation laws.

didden.bsky.social•37 days ago

Britains defamation laws are notorious

jayemmerton.bsky.social•37 days ago

Which is crazy because what's incorrect about that headline?

sebakoni.bsky.social•37 days ago

The truth is not a defence in a defamation suit in the UK

volition-newlove.itch.io•37 days ago

it does, it's just that the standard for proving truth is very hard to reach, especially when it comes to matters of bigotry

practically, you'd have to have the judge/magistrate publicly agree that it's arguably transphobic and that this has been demonstrated in court

snacktaku.bsky.social•37 days ago

is freedom of press not a thing in the UK?

easbygames.bsky.social•37 days ago

It *is* but over the years we've came up with more and more ways for people to contest that. It's very much possible to get sued for things that are provably correct, and the fact is most publications can't afford the legal case even if they know they're going to win

snacktaku.bsky.social•37 days ago

damn, that seems pretty Orwellian to me

theothermcboots.bsky.social•37 days ago

Hard-to-break internet habits made it take too long to jump to Aftermath after the Kotaku exodus(es), but glad I found y'all now. Thanks for the work you & the old Guardtaku continue to do 🧡

joel.zone•37 days ago

at uni we were told anyone can sue you unless they're dead, first week. fear of god from day dot.

easbygames.bsky.social•37 days ago

I remember being told that even if we know we were right, chances are we could still be sued, and this was repeated basically weekly at university. That, combined with the adage "innocent until proven guilty", struck the fear of god into multiple generations of journalists when it came to reporting

fennit.bsky.social•37 days ago

Combatting the gutter-raking press rags with phone hacking etc is laws that have empowered so much legal abuse by wealthy individuals worldwide using the UK courts.

It's only marginally better than Japan, where your allegations could be true and substantiated but sued for damaging their reputation.

mmofallout.com•37 days ago

I've had to shitcan one article in my entire 16 years because an ex-Ubisoft employee threatened to sue me in 4 countries simultaneously and my lawyer advised just to drop it, not because I'd lose but because of the massive cost that would be defending myself.

Shit sucks.

trjn.bsky.social•37 days ago

They really have to rise to the level of the Roberts-Smith or Lehrmann cases and even then, I think some outlets took a settlement.

ronnpiano.bsky.social•37 days ago

Yes. It's like the tactics used by the US meat industry when they went after Oprah Winfrey for her show that took an honest look at the industry at that time. They wanted to discourage any other news outlet from examining their deeds.

poekwinsings.bsky.social•37 days ago

Career defining time. Money trumps all given a home, good food, lifestyle choices, vacations, college tuitions for kids, let’s see…or be a Chris Hedges.

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