Gawker's owner, Nick Denton, had his face plastered all over NYC--someone wants him in prison. Denton lost his case against Hulk Hogan--and he lost big time. Denton was taught quite a lesson about libel and defamation. Another lesson he has learned: Don't mess with billionaires. Peter Thiel spent millions to help crush Denton. And it may still be an on-going process:
www.breitbart.com/tech/2016/08/10/jail-denton-pictures-appear-around-new-york-city/
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/16/opinion/peter-thiel-the-online-privacy-debate-wont-end-with-gawker.html?_r=0
I endured for years similar treatment on sites such as 4chan. Christopher Poole, a young man who ran the site (he sold it to some Japanese man recently) allowed vicious copyright infringement (my cartoons defaced into racist junk while trolls claimed they were the 'originals'), gross defamation and outright libel against me to occur daily for many years, while at the same time he made sure all "Gamer Gate" and "Celebrity Nude Gate" posts were immediately deleted by his moderators.
Why was this? As usual it can be boiled down to one word:
Money.
Poole had little money, but didn't want to be sued by those who did have it. In my case, he was unafraid, because I didn't have it.
Denton insulted Thiel--claiming he had 'outed' him. He violated Thiel's privacy. The billionaire had the means to decapitate Gawker. Hulk Hogan was a beneficiary.
Surely Denton was smart enough to know he was playing with fire, but he dug in his heels. He published prurient stories, or 'click bait' journalism that attracted millions of viewers--as well as millions of dollars for his coffers.
Where is this going? Well, if you want to have a voice on the Internet and you gain some modicum of popularity, be prepared to be smeared, libeled and defamed by entities who disagree with your opinions. If you don't have deep pockets to fight back legally, it's best to avoid tangling with the hateful dragon. You can't defeat the Internet hate machine unless you have millions of dollars. In other words, justice is for rich people.
--Ben Garrison
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