See this WSJ.com article, concerning a suit filed against people involved with AutoAdmit/XOXOHTH, via Brian Leiter. Many of us who blog under our own names will be watching this case with a lot of interest, particularly with respect to harassment and defamation claims and lawyers hiding behind pseudonyms. You can read the Complaint here.
–Ann Bartow
The lawsuit could cut both ways. The threat of a retaliatory lawsuit is concerning for those of us who dare to blog under our own name, but equally threatening are “parody” videos, sexualized commentary and calls for “google bombing” by anonymous posters who target we who dare to stand in front of a classroom.
As a First Amendment prof, I honor the value of confronting bad speech with more speech, but responding to intimidation more often than not provokes more hostility. Without knowing whether problematic posts are from individuals blowing off steam or serve as precursors to actual violence, we are left with a choice to gamble on our safety or support the principles of free expression without which feminism itself would be nowhere.
Its a choice no one should have to make.