On Thursday, the Facebook section of the Internet demonstrated pitchfork mentality towards one Judith Griggs, who had allegedly asserted that content on the Web is public domain. On Friday, Google tech writer Noirin Shirley accused Google engineer Florian Leibert of sexual assult at an after-hours party during ApacheCon in Atlanta. Guess where the pitchforks were aimed this time? Blog post commenters and tweets attacked both Shirley and Leiber.
Full story at @Storify. This post is here for comments.
One reply on “Moral Ambiguity? Claim Of Sexual Assault Versus Copyright Infringement”
Great curation, Kathy, and intriguing contrast in the reaction between the two cases. Noirin’s blog post is so well-written that it provokes very intense reactions at the emotional level. The discussions on Reddit, Hacker News et al really highlight how pervasive the slut-shaming and blame-the-victim mentality is with guys in the technology space.
Historically, very few cases like this have gone to trial — and even when they do, the process takes a long time. Naming names lets the community know about a potential danger, and changes the power dynamics by warning guys in general that even if you don’t get convicted, there can be serious consequences for not listening when somebody says “no”.