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If this sort of thing was effective (and legal, I don't know) you'd think it would be seen regularly.

I can't decide if it's better explained by the power of corporate(/political) PR or simply that people don't actually care

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I would imagine a huge piece of it is libel and slander laws protect you unless you’re in the public sphere.

I would argue publishing a journal is a very public thing, note the root word of publishing.

What about publishing an HN comment? At the root of it, they’re both means of publicly disseminating information.

I think "public figure" refers to how well known the person is. In this case, I'd guess that a way larger group of people read the journal than will read these comments.

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