From Hafez v. Accuracy in Media, Inc., decided last Thursday by N.Y. trial court judge Phaedra F. Perry-Bond:
Defendant [AIM] is a not-for-profit corporation that allegedly uses investigative journalism to expose bias, corruption, and public policy failings. Defendant Adam Guillette ("Guillette") is AIM's president. On October 23, 2023, Guillette, through AIM, purchased internet domain names and created websites in each of the Plaintiffs' names. Defendants used Plaintiffs' names and photographs to engage in a campaign that falsely claimed Plaintiffs were leaders of student organizations that signed an October 11, 2023 letter (the "Letter") which blamed Israeli policies for the October 7, 2023 attacks. The websites bearing Plaintiffs' names contained their pictures and labelled them as "Columbia's Leading Antisemite(s)."
As part of the campaign, Defendants created and funded mobile billboard trucks, which like the websites created by Defendants, displayed Plaintiffs' images and names and labelled them Columbia's Leading Antisemites. The billboards were driven around Columbia University, where Plaintiffs were enrolled. The mobile billboards were even allegedly sent to Plaintiffs' homes…. However, none of the Plaintiffs were leaders of any student organization that signed the Letter.
Plaintiff Yusuf Hafez … was president of Turath, an Arab cultural group at Columbia, from September 2022 until May of 2023. Turath signed the Letter, but Hafez held no leadership or decision-making role in Turath at the time the Letter was signed. Despite Defendants acknowledging that non-party Yara Saabneh … was Turath's president at the time the Letter was signed, and despite public information confirming Hafez had no role in Turath's leadership in October of 2023, Defendants still embarked on a public campaign of labelling Hafez as "Columbia's Leading Antisemite."
{According to Guillete, Defendants identified Hafez as an antisemite based solely on an article from January 19, 2023, which identified Hafez as the president of Turath, a page from a Columbia networking site from October 20, 2023, which inaccurately listed Hafez as Turath's "primary contact," and a video from April 19, 2023 where Hafez claimed he was president of Turath.} {At the time the Letter was signed, Turath's website identified the new leadership board, on which Hafez played no role.} …
