Thread by @davidfarrier

1/10: i've been sent a cease & desist by chris patterson barrister on behalf of dr dan, the NZ doctor i wrote about who’d been posting about ivermectin. they want a signed apology & retraction by end of day. i will not be doing that, and this is why: webworm.co/p/ceaseanddesi…

2/10: at its most basic, the 3 page letter alleges the webworm i’d sent was defamatory (it wasn’t). it ended with the threat that if i didn’t sign the document “we reserve all of our client’s rights including his right to bring proceedings against you without further warning”

3/10: at this point i knew i would be writing a webworm about this, because i am sick of men hiring lawyers to shut me up. this usually goes on behind closed doors, but i’m kinda over of it by now, and want *you* to see how this process works

4/10: this is why i started webworm - to do weird deep dives, and go behind the veil! because yes, it costs money to defend yourself - and these people all know this. and as a journalist and writer it blows! again, i expand more on it here: webworm.co/p/ceaseanddesi…

5/10: the giant gag in all this (if there is one?) is that dr dan is using *THE SAME LAWYER* that david d’amato used to try and stop us making our documentary TICKLED back in 2014 (yes, welcome to the extended tickleverse)

6/10: back then, lawyer chris patterson threatened a lot of things, including making moves to reveal the names of our kickstarter backers, insinuating *they* could be held liable. here in 2021 - this all feels all a bit déjà vu

7/10: this was stressful during tickled, and it’s stressful now. anyway, today was my deadline - so i wrote back to chris patterson barrister. what did i write? well, i threw that in today’s newsletter for you too: webworm.co/p/ceaseanddesi…

8/10: finally: for paying webworm subscribers (on days like this it’s hard to describe how much i appreciate you) i’ve sent you a 2nd newsletter which has the full cease & desist notices for dr dan & david d’amato - plus some other stuff, too: webworm.co/p/chrispatters…

9/10: this is where i do my plug: all my content covering conspiracy culture, anti-vax madness & grifting churches is put out for free - never paywalled - thanks to paying subs! if you want to contribute to my work (*and* get extra stuff) - this is how: webworm.co/subscribe

10/10: i feel proud to have sent both these newsletters because, well, sunlight is the best disinfectant. also, just fuck all this bullshit. so in the words of a man much more handsome than i: "let’s go hard"