There are many things I have wanted to say in the last 6 weeks of #DeppvHeard
But I haven't.
Because whatever I say will be used to attack not just me but others too.
Because that's how libel works. That's the whole point of it.
1/
You have not been sued for libel.
So you'll not understand how it's not just designed to silence you. Although it does. But also to destroy you. Which it does too.
It's not a pissy business dispute. It's a full-frontal multi-million quid existential assault. On who you are.
2/
You have not been sued for libel.
Because it is a rich man's sport. That only rich men play. Because only millionaires get to have 'reputations' in the age of the internet. Sticks & stones, pal, you just have to suck it up.
3/
You have not been sued for libel.
So, you don't understand how it's not just the trial or an act or an event, it's a process that goes on over years. It's a toxin that enters your central nervous system slowly & insidiously, until one day you can't move your limbs.
4/
You have not been sued for libel.
So you won't understand how it scares the very institutions that are meant to protect us. Even the liberal media orgs that published the goddamn words. *Especially* the liberal media orgs. Democracy dies in darkness? All the lolz to that.
5/
You have not been sued for libel.
You won't know how every step of the litigation fuels more social media abuse. Cos that's the whole point of it. You won't know how that shit sticks. Even with people you know. You won't know how the rage & unfairness seeps into your bones.
6/
You have not been sued for libel.
You have not been trapped inside the airless machinery of the legal process. You've not been forced to hand your personal messages against your will in the certain knowledge that anything you've ever said can & will be used against you.
7/
You have not been sued for libel.
But you may be a woman online. So you know how that goes. You communicate via platforms that optimise for virality - aka misogyny. You've seen what happens to women on the internet. You know what happens if they step out of line.
8/
You have not been sued for libel.
So you have not experienced your peers writing endless crap about #WagathaChristie while remaining stone cold silent even as they burn witches in pyres beneath your windows.
9/
You have not been sued for libel.
I'm speaking for no-one other than myself here. Because that's the first thing you'll learn: that you have to speak for yourself. Because no-one else will.
And over time, you'll realise that there's not even any point in that either.
10/
You have not been sued for libel.
But I have.
I'm still awaiting my verdict. But if my trial had been live-streamed, I'm pretty sure that I, too, would have been burned at the stake.
And I suspect, I wouldn’t just be broken. I’d probably be dead.
11/
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NEW: I'm seeking permission to appeal in the Supreme Court. There's no meaningful free expression in this country if after proving your speech is lawful, you're hit with £££ costs: a devastating ruling that will chill public interest journalism
by @_EmmaGH theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/m…
This was filed today in the Court of Appeal. If the Supreme Court rejects it, we believe there’s a strong case to take it to the European Court of Human Rights.
Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights puts an obligation on states to ensure freedom of expression. According to the ruling in this case, it's very far from free: even if you can prove your speech is lawful, it'll still cost you hundreds of thousands of pounds...
It's been a long time but v happy to be back in @ObserverUK today with 2 pieces, both close to my heart. And to launch a new project with @allthecitizens.
1/ An astonishing new claim that MI5 refused to investigate Russian spy's infiltration of Tory party theguardian.com/politics/2023/…
2/ Delighted to profile the fierce & brilliant @pevchikh for @ObsNewReview. If you've seen the Navalny doc, she's the woman sitting by Navalny's side as he calls one of his FSB poisoners & gets him to confess to Novichoking his underpants. theguardian.com/world/2023/jan…
3/ Finally, the story of how the Kremlin captured Britain. And how the UK government covered it up. If you've wondered why no British broadcaster has told the real story behind the Russia Report, please watch this & consider contributing.
My jaw hit the floor when I discovered Boris Johnson left an emergency NATO meeting after the Kremlin’s chemical warfare attack on Britain & flew to an off-the-books meeting with an ex-KGB spy.
In July 2019, Johnson had just been made PM. And @nickhopkinsnews published 2 extraordinary stories about Foreign Secretary Johnson flying from a NATO meeting to a party in Italy at the height of the Skripal crisis.
The party was at Evgeny Lebedev’s villa. The owner of Independent & Evening Standard.
Hopkins’s first story suggested he’d given his security detail the slip to fly to Italy. Then a Guardian reader supplied photos of him leaving: hungover & dishevelled 3/
Thank you to the judge, my stellar legal team & the 29,000 people who contributed to my legal defence fund. I literally couldn’t have done it without you 🙏🙏🙏
I haven't read the judgment yet but what I can say that the last 3 years have been extraordinarily difficult. Fighting this has been a crushing, debilitating, all-consuming experience that I sincerely hope no other journalist ever has to go through. 2/ judiciary.uk/judgments/bank…
The fact that his case was brought clearly shows how our libel laws favour the rich & powerful. I was only able to defend myself because of the incredibly generous support of the public. But this judgment is a huge victory for public interest journalism.
3/