On Tuesday, April 23, attorneys for HopNews’ parent company, Arch Publishing, issued a demand letter to Select Board member Shahidul Mannan, alleging that he defamed the publication in a recent speech. “You have defamed [HopNews] by accusing them of being racist and you have engaged in unfair and deceptive practices, a violation of M.G.L. c. 93A,” reads the letter in part.
On April 16, Mr. Mannan during the Select Board meeting, made a statement in which he described being the victim of racial attacks. During his speech he also said “these actions have been made all the more poignant by their visibility in the local media, a town newspaper, and solidified or normalized by the silence against such injustices.”
The next day, he stated in an article in the Hopkinton Independent that he was referring to HopNews.
HopNews attempted to contact Mr. Mannan several times seeking clarification, but received no reply.
As previously described in our article Racism Has No Place in Hopkinton, HopNews does not promote, nor do we allow any speech on our platform that promotes racism or any form of discrimination. Such behavior undermines the principles of diversity and acceptance we strive for and will not be tolerated. Our position is further codified in Section 8 of our Privacy Policy, which describes how we govern reader comments.
“You have been completely non-responsive and unwilling to engage in a dialogue…to put this matter to rest. To this day, you have hidden behind your cloak of being victimized, all the while leaving your unsubstantiated assertions to simmer and settle into the community. In no uncertain terms, your words have caused harm, and you have intended them to cause harm,” continues the letter to Mr. Mannan.
>> READ THE FULL DEMAND LETTER
In a related move, on April 19, HopNews contacted the Hopkinton Freedom Team, offering to collaborate on a community discussion on race in Hopkinton. We received this reply from Cathleen Dinsmore, their founder and President:
“The HFT has been considering various possibilities. Unfortunately, we don’t have capacity to take on something extra right now, given our upcoming events. If our capacity to organize something with you and others changes, we will be in touch sooner rather than later.”
As HopNews should! People, no matter what their nationality/skin color/religion, etc., need to realize that you are responsible for your words. This was a written statement that Mr. Mannan read, so his words were thought out & intentional. And untrue. And defamatory.
It is unacceptable that he used his Select Board position to take a stance and call out a business (and therefore, you).
He should realize this, and he should end his apology statement by acknowledging this gross misuse of his position as the reason he is also stepping down from the Select Boatd. At least that would show some accountability, and acknowledge that Select Board members are not entitled to do this.
My opinion, but like HopNews, I cannot countenance racism in any form and when falsely accused agree a strong reasoned response with alacrity is warranted. Mr. Mannan may indeed experience racism and it should absolutely be called out when it occurs – but to accuse HopNews, its commentors and readers is grossly, egregiously wrong and needs a strong, immediate and vigorous defence. Unfortunately as oft quoted: “A lie can travel halfway around the world while the truth is putting on its shoes” is particularly true with false cries of racism as demonstrated by its regular use to shut down different opinions being discussed. This case is reminiscent of the episode of “The West Wing” with the issue of “Ring and Run”, hopefully the mature response is given as requested in the letter.
Racism must be combated everywhere, and what happened to Mr. Mannan and his family is despicable. Racism—whether explicit or implicit—is never acceptable.
However, Mannan’s unsubstantiated racial claims to attack or defame HopNews are also harmful and undermine genuine efforts to combat racism. The fact that Mannan chose to mislead people instead of providing evidence of racist behavior doesn’t help his case.
Mr. Mannan, I think you’re better than that. Please stop.
If I followed this correctly, HopNews, in a previous article, but not in this one, acknowledged there was a comment made by a social media user on a HopNews page. After Mr. Mannan read his statement, and HopNews wrote there were no racist comments on its site, a HopNews reader pointed out a comment of that ilk on HopNews social media site, and I believe HopNews then removed it, which was the right thing to do. It’s not clear to me that Mr. Mannan was exactly incorrect in his charge, and his statement included other accounts so it wasn’t directed at HopNews in an attempt to defame the media outlet. I do hope Mr. Mannan clarifies the source of the comment was not HopNews itself, and acknowledges the strong stance HopNews is taking against racism, and hope there’s a good reason he hasn’t done so as yet. If we victim shame with public demand letters over issues like this, no one will want to call out racism for fear of this kind of reprisal. I wonder if HopNews could have issued this demand letter privately to force a conversation before taking it to the public. Make no mistake, racism exists in this town, and every town, and I hope we try to resolve issues through dialog and learning and understanding multiple points of view, expressed in good faith, rather than as inflammatory rhetoric and extreme calls for action we see too often.
To correct your recollection, HopNews acknowledged that (either a bot or a real Facebook user – the jury is still out on that) made an inflammatory comment on FACEBOOK, not HopNews. Our terms of service, and indeed, our editorial scope of control does not extend to websites that are not ours. Thus, Mr. Mannan’s comments about HopNews are defamatory. Mr. Mannan is not a victim in this particular instance; rather, he is the aggressor.
I’m relieved to see that HopNews is taking decisive action by pursuing legal recourse. The baseless allegations of racism and the indiscriminate labeling of individuals as racist have regrettably become common tactics used by some in Hopkinton when faced with challenges, particularly from the far left. If Mr. Mannan lacked the evidence to support such a grave accusation, he should have exercised greater prudence before making it. While Mr. Mannan may not have felt he would bear personal repercussions for publicly levying such a serious allegation in his official capacity, the fallout has the potential to significantly tarnish HopNews’ integrity and reputation.
Furthermore, the false accusation of racism made by Mr. Mannan towards HopNews is not only damaging to the reputation of the publication but also undermines the seriousness of genuine instances of racism within our community.
Mr. Mannan should not be sued for how he perceives a series of incidents, possibly race based. This is an issue everywhere in this nation, so clearly his opinion is not his alone. First Amendment issue? Ironically the same amendment covers the rights of the paper and the person.
This is also why good people may never run for office at any level. It is not worth the aggravation to them, their families or supporters. Opening oneself up to a lawsuit, in addition to the negativity, can be too much. Please do not bring the courts into this to further embarrass the town. Everybody loses.
To clarify our position, Mr. Mannan is entitled to express his commentary and opinion about race-based incidents that he and his family have suffered. As we have stated, those are regrettable and wholly inappropriate. However, Mr. Mannan is not entitled to accuse HopNews of promoting or perpetuating racial attacks. Those assertions are baseless and defamatory.
One need not look any further than the Mikayla Miller case to see just how damaging and dangerous false accusations of racism can become. False accusations of racism have already harmed this town during that tragedy, to such an extent that people were alleging a murder transpired in the name of racism, which proved to be utterly false. SO……,it’s not really a theoretical matter is it? Amazing how many people in town seem blind to that concept or have already forgotten. Kudos to Hopnews for taking a firm stance against the unsubstantiated allegation. Whomever confronted Mr. Mannan and his family in pubic should be the subject of the criticism. Weaponizing claims of racism has become such a frequently employed tactic in today’s world, it will only stop when people start to push back against the false narrative.
Totally appreciate where you’re coming from, Sam.
Just wanna clarify that we have yet to see any real details that prove that a criticism of that person (whomever he or she is) is warranted. Mannan hasn’t given us any context, or the play-by-play. For all we know, what Mannan heard was someone expressing empathy for him in having had to endure such scrutiny for the past 6 months, scrutiny that might make a lot of folks in Mannan’s position want to leave town.
Or…Or Mannan could be correct and it could have been a racially motivated attack.
Or Mannan may have totally misheard/misunderstood someone.
Or it may not have happened at all.
We will never know.
And so nobody *yet* deserves criticism. (Except maybe Mannan, for being so reckless with a very serious accusation.)
Racism as a whole deserves abundant criticism. But beyond that….I haven’t seen or heard any adequate proof of a racially motivated negative statement by a local resident toward Mannan and his family.
Query, as the accusation was made as part of the BOS meeting by an official of the BOS, who would be on the hook for the costs of defending against the lawsuit and paying the damages if successful? Would it be the town?
Your point is astute. It is possible that Mr. Mannan will refer the matter to the Town’s attorneys, as he was ostensibly acting in his official capacity as a Select Board member when he made the statement. Our hope is that it does not come to that.