Imagine sharing a link on Instagram—not a threat, not a lie, just a link to someone’s publicly available work profile—and getting served with a lawsuit. That’s what allegedly happened to a Jewish couple in Pennsylvania. According to court filings, the Beers, a married couple, commented on a @JewHateDB Instagram post about an attorney whose social media content drew complaints of antisemitism. Their comments included a hyperlink to the attorney’s own firm bio. For that, they were sued.

Or imagine posting a photo of a t-shirt—a shirt emblazoned with the word “RESISTANCE” above a Palestinian flag and gun imagery, worn repeatedly to a gym near a Jewish community—and being hauled into court. The Chicago Jewish Alliance did exactly that: posted a photo of the shirt from behind, with no name, no face, no personal information. They were sued, too.

In each case, the alleged offense was the same: speaking out against antisemitism. And if you are a Jew who has ever shared an article, posted about an incident, or called attention to something that made you afraid—you should know that this could happen to you, too.

Since October 7, many Jews have told me they think twice before posting anything about antisemitism online. They screenshot instead of sharing. They text instead of tweeting. The fear is not hypothetical—it is shaping how an entire community talks, or doesn’t talk, about what is happening to them. These lawsuits are part of the reason why.

Earlier this week, a federal judge in Washington, D.C. dismissed every claim in Johnson v. Georgetown University,[1] a lawsuit that had named the university, several officials, outside Jewish donors, and Canary Mission—an organization that tracks antisemitism online—as defendants.[2] The plaintiff, a former Georgetown administrator, claimed her termination was orchestrated by a network of Jewish donors and advocacy organizations. The court found every one of those claims unsupported—and the case against the donor defendants so baseless that the judge sanctioned the plaintiff’s lawyer, noting the same attorney had filed a nearly identical suit against Emory University.

But the Johnson case is not an outlier. It is part of a pattern—and an alarming one. People and organizations that speak out against antisemitism are being hit with lawsuits. Not because the suits have legal merit, but because fighting them is expensive, exhausting, and distracting. The intended message is simple: call out antisemitism, and you may end up in court.

Across three other recent cases, individuals and organizations that called attention to antisemitic conduct—whether in the workplace, on social media, or in public........

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)