[mpyne]

Freedom of speech is kind of a big thing around here, yes.

You have to remember the context: Some nearly anonymous asshole points a finger and says that so-and-so is the bomber, with no real concrete evidence. It's practically a farce at that stage, only idiots could fall for that.

Unfortunately for Sunil, there are a lot of idiots online (and in the media, apparently).

On the other hand, entities like the NY Post should have known better. They presumably pay "journalists" to fact-check (so there's a higher standard of quality expected), and they understand that it imparts a higher expectation on what they do print, which means it's more likely that people would believe such an accusation.

So Sunil might even have a case against professional outfits like these, especially since he wasn't previously a public figure. But against random people from the Internet there's not really any hope of a libel charge sticking.

Maybe some states would have "cyber-bullying" legislation that would apply though (assuming it's not struck down as unconstitutional).