Strategically Communicating

When I read the EFF articles on privacy, defamation and Section 230 on free speech, images of haughty cheerleaders came to mind. The high-kicking steps of sparkly cheerleaders are a sports photographer’s gold. They are energetic, pretty, and dripping with the excitement of the game under those stadium lights. But what happens to these photos? Often they will land on high-readership sports websites like deadspin.com, yardbarker.com, and the beloved bleacherreport.com. For a lot of sports fans, this is where you go to get the scoop and the exciting cherries and sprinkles. Though some of these sites have been called out about the controversial content they publish, they still see and portray themselves as somewhat newsworthy.  However, the websites also publish profiles of cheerleaders that often misrepresent them and contain false information.

To apply this situation back to the reading, this is a case where these women have signed waivers and contracts to be photographed in the stadium as apart of their team’s franchise. So automatically, a defamation claim wouldn’t stand a chance in court.  It is unfortunate that they can’t be protected as often their first and last names are published in the articles. I began to think: What rights do cheerleaders have for privacy and what protection do they have against being defamed and harmed in media platforms?