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What Hulk Hogan’s Gawker Lawsuit Means for Our Privacy What Hulk Hogan’s Gawker Lawsuit Means for Our Privacy
(about 7 hours later)
HULK HOGAN’S lawsuit against Gawker Media, heard in a Florida courtroom last month, had the surreal quality of, well, a professional wrestling match. Mr. Hogan sued the company after Gawker posted a video clip showing the wrestler having sex with the then-wife of his then-friend, the radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge.HULK HOGAN’S lawsuit against Gawker Media, heard in a Florida courtroom last month, had the surreal quality of, well, a professional wrestling match. Mr. Hogan sued the company after Gawker posted a video clip showing the wrestler having sex with the then-wife of his then-friend, the radio personality Bubba the Love Sponge.
The amount of damages awarded to Mr. Hogan in the trial — a total of $140 million — implies that the excesses of digital media might be causing a backlash. (Gawker has said that it will appeal.) While the balance between privacy and press freedom is typically tipped to the latter in the United States, Amy Gajda, a law professor and author of “The First Amendment Bubble,” argued in Slate that recent court cases suggested “that these jurors may not be alone in giving new deference to privacy concerns.”The amount of damages awarded to Mr. Hogan in the trial — a total of $140 million — implies that the excesses of digital media might be causing a backlash. (Gawker has said that it will appeal.) While the balance between privacy and press freedom is typically tipped to the latter in the United States, Amy Gajda, a law professor and author of “The First Amendment Bubble,” argued in Slate that recent court cases suggested “that these jurors may not be alone in giving new deference to privacy concerns.”
What we really need are more nuanced laws that can safeguard privacy in the digital age. Courts in the United States have held that public figures are less entitled to privacy than the rest of us. But the Hogan case became less about who’s a public figure and more about the ways in which the Internet has allowed our private information to be made public in ways we didn’t intend. For all its absurdity, the fight over Hulk Hogan’s sex tape became a fun-house mirror reflection of the issues that affect all of us.What we really need are more nuanced laws that can safeguard privacy in the digital age. Courts in the United States have held that public figures are less entitled to privacy than the rest of us. But the Hogan case became less about who’s a public figure and more about the ways in which the Internet has allowed our private information to be made public in ways we didn’t intend. For all its absurdity, the fight over Hulk Hogan’s sex tape became a fun-house mirror reflection of the issues that affect all of us.
Gawker defended the news value of the video, claiming that Mr. Hogan had lost his right to privacy because he was a celebrity and had already boasted for years about his sex life “on talk radio and shows like Howard Stern,” Nick Denton, Gawker’s founder, wrote on the company’s website after the verdict. Mr. Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, countered that there was a firm line between the man and the alter ego he plays.Gawker defended the news value of the video, claiming that Mr. Hogan had lost his right to privacy because he was a celebrity and had already boasted for years about his sex life “on talk radio and shows like Howard Stern,” Nick Denton, Gawker’s founder, wrote on the company’s website after the verdict. Mr. Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, countered that there was a firm line between the man and the alter ego he plays.
“Terry Bollea’s a normal person,” he said, while Hulk Hogan is a crude character who bragged about his sex life — truthfully and otherwise — in ways Mr. Bollea never would. That response evoked snickers on social media, but the idea that a person may divulge some information in one context but not another is at the heart of modern privacy theory.“Terry Bollea’s a normal person,” he said, while Hulk Hogan is a crude character who bragged about his sex life — truthfully and otherwise — in ways Mr. Bollea never would. That response evoked snickers on social media, but the idea that a person may divulge some information in one context but not another is at the heart of modern privacy theory.
In his landmark 1967 book “Privacy and Freedom,” Alan Westin defined privacy as “the claim of individuals, groups or institutions to determine for themselves when, how and to what extent information about them is communicated to others.”In his landmark 1967 book “Privacy and Freedom,” Alan Westin defined privacy as “the claim of individuals, groups or institutions to determine for themselves when, how and to what extent information about them is communicated to others.”
For example, many people will readily share shopping information with online retailers, but wouldn’t share that same information with family or friends. No one would argue that companies are entitled to the full details of their employees’ mental health records. And of course, there are private photos intended for one specific person that are not meant to be shared with anyone else.For example, many people will readily share shopping information with online retailers, but wouldn’t share that same information with family or friends. No one would argue that companies are entitled to the full details of their employees’ mental health records. And of course, there are private photos intended for one specific person that are not meant to be shared with anyone else.
Mr. Bollea’s claim that Hulk Hogan is a character he plays in certain contexts is an unusual reassertion of that right. “Westin’s vision of privacy is that you could control your information as it left you,” says J. Trevor Hughes, chief executive of the International Association of Privacy Professionals. “But now, on the Internet, that control is increasingly out of our hands.”Mr. Bollea’s claim that Hulk Hogan is a character he plays in certain contexts is an unusual reassertion of that right. “Westin’s vision of privacy is that you could control your information as it left you,” says J. Trevor Hughes, chief executive of the International Association of Privacy Professionals. “But now, on the Internet, that control is increasingly out of our hands.”
Mr. Westin’s ideas have had a huge influence in Europe, where privacy laws are much more robust. In the United States, his ideas have been more limited by the First Amendment, which tries to balance privacy and press freedoms. It’s no secret where Mr. Denton stands. He founded Gawker precisely because he thought powerful people had too much control over their own stories.Mr. Westin’s ideas have had a huge influence in Europe, where privacy laws are much more robust. In the United States, his ideas have been more limited by the First Amendment, which tries to balance privacy and press freedoms. It’s no secret where Mr. Denton stands. He founded Gawker precisely because he thought powerful people had too much control over their own stories.
But just as the Internet has made it easier to become a publisher, it has also become much easier for ordinary people to suddenly become public figures. Mr. Denton himself said, talking about people who posted on Facebook, “to the extent that they are published and they are viewed, they become some sort of public figure.” That makes public figures of more than 1.5 billion people, who might be shocked to find themselves described that way.But just as the Internet has made it easier to become a publisher, it has also become much easier for ordinary people to suddenly become public figures. Mr. Denton himself said, talking about people who posted on Facebook, “to the extent that they are published and they are viewed, they become some sort of public figure.” That makes public figures of more than 1.5 billion people, who might be shocked to find themselves described that way.
Every day, we see examples of otherwise private people who are held up to embarrassment, public shaming or ridicule, when a confidential comment or personal information is broadcast around the world (many of Gawker’s targets over the years have been far less famous and far less eager for attention than Mr. Hogan). True, very few of us have sex tapes widely released. Fewer still have a friend whose legal name is Bubba the Love Sponge. But aren’t we all just one airplane screaming match, ill-advised Facebook post or recklessly shared photo from becoming an online story ourselves? Every day, we see examples of otherwise private people who are held up for embarrassment, public shaming or ridicule, when a confidential comment or personal information is broadcast around the world (many of Gawker’s targets over the years have been far less famous and far less eager for attention than Mr. Hogan). True, very few of us have sex tapes widely released. Fewer still have a friend whose legal name is Bubba the Love Sponge. But aren’t we all just one airplane screaming match, ill-advised Facebook post or recklessly shared photo from becoming an online story ourselves?
However unusual Mr. Hogan’s circumstances, his essential complaint is one that many of us share in and one that our laws haven’t addressed: How do we control our information in the digital age? Under cross-examination in court, Mr. Bollea admitted that, as Hulk Hogan, he had lied about his sexual endowment. Celebrities, as the saying goes, are really just like the rest of us.However unusual Mr. Hogan’s circumstances, his essential complaint is one that many of us share in and one that our laws haven’t addressed: How do we control our information in the digital age? Under cross-examination in court, Mr. Bollea admitted that, as Hulk Hogan, he had lied about his sexual endowment. Celebrities, as the saying goes, are really just like the rest of us.