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Self-publishing legal questions: How critical of big industries can I be if I choose to write and post about them? What level of ‘I’m-gonna-get-sued” fear should I have? Will an LLC protect me in these instances?

Thanks in advance for any advice — I'm seeking information on creating an anonymous blog and what I need to potentially be careful about in a legal sense. I want to create a rant-style blog in which I bring up huge issues in a certain industry – education. I have the background knowledge and experience to do this knowledgeably. I'm going to avoid naming specific groups when I can, but there is the possibility that I go after bigger groups and established 'brand names' in education like Lucy Calkins and McGraw Hill. There's a lot of bullshit that needs to be called out. I don't plan on naming or calling out any individual school districts, but it's possible that one could come up. My questions are as follows: If I publish anonymously, what advice do you have when it comes to maintaining utter online anonymity? What is the possibility or…


Thanks in advance for any advice — I'm seeking information on creating an anonymous blog and what I need to potentially be careful about in a legal sense.

I want to create a rant-style blog in which I bring up huge issues in a certain industry – education. I have the background knowledge and experience to do this knowledgeably. I'm going to avoid naming specific groups when I can, but there is the possibility that I go after bigger groups and established 'brand names' in education like Lucy Calkins and McGraw Hill. There's a lot of bullshit that needs to be called out. I don't plan on naming or calling out any individual school districts, but it's possible that one could come up.

My questions are as follows:

  1. If I publish anonymously, what advice do you have when it comes to maintaining utter online anonymity?
  2. What is the possibility or chance that a McGraw-Hill and Lucy Calkins would litigate if I criticized them? I don't plan on making any outlandish claims – just strong critiques of their negative impacts on educational trends. Should I be worried about lawsuits when it comes to critiquing big names in education industries? There's also a possibility that certain individual players could be named (shady CEOs or boards), but it's unlikely to be common.
  3. Would an LLC be a good idea for this venture? If lawsuits are potentially a fact of life in this type of endeavor, should I form an LLC to ensure that my personal assets are protected? Would an LLC require me to give up my plans for anonymity?
  4. Are there other options besides forming an LLC to protect or help a one-person anonymous blog/social media set-up?

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