all 6 comments

[–][deleted] 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

Cool. This is where the woke web gets to adult and learn about things like libel.

Notice she chose to push back against a children's news website, not an individual fuckwit on Twitter.

[–]motionlessoracle 8 insightful - 1 fun8 insightful - 0 fun9 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

She does live in the UK, where it's incredibly easy to sue a newspaper for publishing unflattering stories

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_defamation_law

[–]ReapWhirlwinds 5 insightful - 1 fun5 insightful - 0 fun6 insightful - 1 fun -  (0 children)

This kid's newspaper is used for lesson plans in schools. I approve of doing whatever the fuck it takes to stop schools teaching shit like this, including deploying the libel laws.

Having a newspaper say you're an evil transphobe is one thing - having teachers teach schoolchildren all over the country about how you're just like an anti-Semite or a rapist - fuck no, I don't blame anyone for putting the kibosh on that even though I do agree the libel laws are too powerful. But this shit simply should not be taught in schools and I don't know if she had any other legal recourse than libel to stop it.

[–]AreYouSureee 4 insightful - 1 fun4 insightful - 0 fun5 insightful - 1 fun -  (3 children)

I stand with Rowling. I think this article hit the nail on the head. She’s not a transphobe, nothing she’s said does any harm to trans, and the thing’s she’s compared to are ridiculous.

However, I also agree with this part:

“The wealthy should not use their position to threaten people into silence. Given the size of Rowling’s platform, she could easily have ridiculed the article and won public support instead. As someone who has been targeted for cancellation, Rowling should know better.“

[–]lefterfield 13 insightful - 1 fun13 insightful - 0 fun14 insightful - 1 fun -  (2 children)

Ehh, when you're telling actual lies about people, wealthy or not, that's not the same thing as being silenced. Yes, it'd be nice if non-wealthy people had the resources to pursue these kinds of resolutions, but that doesn't make JKR wrong because she can.

[–][deleted] 12 insightful - 1 fun12 insightful - 0 fun13 insightful - 1 fun -  (1 child)

^ Agreed.

Also, I can't help but wonder if this same "advice" to be ever-saintly toward your libelous abusers would have been applied if she'd been a wealthy man.