Mr. Denton’s Gawker site has specialized in harming as many people as possible in search of clicks. It takes pride in sex exposés and outing prominent gay Americans. So Gawker was being Gawker when it published a video of the wrestler Terry Bollea, aka Hulk Hogan, having sex with the wife of a radio shock jock who arranged the encounter and made the video. Mr. Bollea claimed in a Florida lawsuit that Gawker had violated his privacy rights, and a jury handed down the jackpot award that sent Gawker into Chapter 11.

It’s important to understand that this is not a defamation or libel action. The First Amendment offers considerable protections in such cases even when a news report about a public figure is false. Mr. Bollea filed suit under a Florida law that protects individual privacy against even accurate reports unless the news is in the public interest…

But the size of the award will also be an incentive for more such lawsuits against reputable media outfits and bloggers. Defending any lawsuit is expensive, and privacy suits offer a way around the First Amendment’s libel protections. It’s easy to imagine a CEO, say, suing a publication for digging into his business investments. The stories might be in the public interest, but the businessman might want to take his chances with a jury.