If you publish content online, you're responsible for the harm that it may cause. It seems like The New York Times didn't get the memo.

If you publish content online, you're responsible for the harm that it may cause.

And if you have a large, influential platform - your responsibility grows relative to the level of influence. A 13-year old posting a conspiracy on her private Instagram account to a circle of five close friends is objectively less dangerous than a TV anchor repeating the same conspiracy to 5,000,000 viewers.

Sounds simple, right?

Well, it seems like The New York Times didn't get the memo. Because today, on March 9 of 2024, they published one of the most abhorrent and mean-spirited articles I've ever had the displeasure of seeing on the internet.

I'm talking about Jennifer Reese's awful review of "If You Can't Take the Heat" by Geraldine DeRuiter. DeRuiter, if you're not familiar, is a hilarious food and travel blogger and also one of my favorite authors. She's a beautiful, intelligent, hilarious woman. And her second book, about "food, feminism, and fury" is coming out this Tuesday.

So how did The New York Times, one of the world's most famous and well-established publications, choose to review DeRuiter's new book?

We're all complacent in failing to recognize the responsibility that should come with having an online platform. And as with any avoided responsibilities – when we look away, someone gets hurt. Too often that someone is a representative of an already disenfranchised group – like women who write about feminism.