Who will be the next billionaire that sues a media outlet out of existence?
After the website Gawker published a series of articles critical of Silicon Valley billionaire and right-wing megadonor Peter Thiel, he began funding a series of lawsuits aimed at shutting them down. He ultimately spent a total of $10 million — and in 2016, the website, unable to pay the verdict against them, shut down.
This episode wasn’t an isolated incident but a blueprint for how deep-pocketed individuals and corporations can retaliate against journalists. And sadly, The Intercept isn’t immune: Last year, we were sued by a billionaire defense contractor claiming defamation.
Our legal defense in that case alone has cost $200,000. We stand by our reporting, but what’s at stake in these lawsuits is much deeper: the freedom of the press to investigate the wealthiest and most powerful interests in the world.
But The Intercept’s reporters have never shied away from an important story. Our legal team has been called upon time and again to defend our journalism, fight for the release of public records, and more. We are scrupulous about getting the facts right, and we refuse to be intimidated or silenced.
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Since Thiel began his campaign against Gawker, the wealthy and powerful have only become more aggressive in their efforts to silence the press through litigation.
Mother Jones fought off a defamation lawsuit from a billionaire Republican donor after reporting on his company’s super PAC contributions and his local political activities. The court ruled in favor of Mother Jones on all counts — but only after two years and millions in legal fees, costs that could have crushed a smaller publication.
Fox News heir Lachlan Murdoch is currently suing a small Australian news site for describing the Murdoch family as “unindicted co-conspirators” in the January 6 insurrection. He’s using that country’s lack of free speech protections to punish journalists while Fox defends its own hosts’ lies on First Amendment grounds in America.
And last year, Supreme Court justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch said the court should hear a challenge to the landmark free speech precedent that sets a high bar for libel lawsuits. Without that protection, countless important stories might never see the light of day.
The Intercept exists to expose injustice and take on the powerful — no matter what they throw at us. But our opponents have the time and resources to fight to the last drop, from our ongoing defamation case to the grueling public records litigation we rely on to bring corporate and government secrets to light. Meanwhile, the donations we rely on to fund our nonprofit journalism have declined this summer.
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