Americans brazenly wield the First Amendment after second J.K. Rowling apology
Americans who dislike JK Rowling are using the first amendment to fight back against the Harry Potter author after she allegedly launched another lawsuit over a tweet. Americans, who are largely unaffected by UK defamation laws due to the US constitution and their residence in a different jurisdiction, are using this opportunity to shed a light on Rowling’s power and how she’s allegedly using her money and influence to take down her critics.
Recommended VideosAccording to the London School of Economics and Political Science, UK libel law allows an individual or companies to defend their reputation through the court system if they believe that they’ve been defamed and it has caused harm to their reputation. Lately, these laws have seen a lot of British critics of Rowling’s having to apologize or walk back their comments.
American critics caught wind of this and used this opportunity to criticize Rowling for suing those who don’t agree with her.
looking at jk rowling using her money to silence uk critics reaffirms my love of american speech laws.
— Oliver Willis (@owillis) February 15, 2023Since @jk_rowling keeps using the UK's ridiculous libel laws to sue Brits into apologizing for calling her out let me use my US privilege to say:
Jo, you are a disgusting bigot. Your hate has led directly to young trans deaths and will continue to do so until you shut the fuck up https://t.co/7bUedvwHwy
living in the US mostly sucks but i’m glad it allows me to say that JK Rowling is a transphobic antisemitic grifter who can’t write for dogshit https://t.co/U0rCuIWLmP
— Janus Rose (@janusrose) February 14, 2023Critics also agreed that Rowling shouldn’t be taking down the opposition through lawsuits since it hinders free speech. They also feel that the move unjust and shows that the author is taking down anyone who doesn’t agree with her views.
If we really want to talk properly about “cancel culture”, let’s talk about billionaire JK Rowling using her money to silence legitimate criticism of her bigotry. https://t.co/EybTfUDdo1
— Mark Grimshaw (@MarkGComedyUK) February 13, 2023Whatever you think of Rowling, nobody should ever be forced to do this at metaphorical gunpoint because some rich baby got mad about being called a name.
We don't enforce bullshit UK libel judgements here, so I can call @jk_rowling a Nazi for this SLAPPy behavior all I want. https://t.co/0vcfUm3cAB
— Ari Cohn (@AriCohn) February 14, 2023One of the foundations on American law around defamation is that opinion cannot be proven true or false, ergo it in exempt from civil liability.
This looks like JK Rowling using her wealth to silence utterly in-bounds free speech. We all agree this is bad, right? pic.twitter.com/DLhlGVZd85
— Brianna Wu (@BriannaWu) February 14, 2023JJ Welles’s apology marks the second known incident where someone has had to apologize on social media for their criticism of Rowling. If this keeps going, it’s going to further cement the idea that wealthy people can shut down their critics with a simple lawsuit. At the moment, there isn’t any news if either Wellles or @no1guncle will challenge Rowling.
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