Feminist Killjoys and Women Scorned: An Analysis of News and Commentary on the Sexual Violence Allegations Against Julian Assange

This article examines digital media debate over sexual violence by analyzing news reports and reader comments on the rape allegations against WikiLeaks founder, Julian Assange. Through analysis of the Guardian and New York Times, the article shows how this case became a flash-point for debate about feminist constructions of sexual violence. News reports amplified Assange’s defense that the allegations stemmed from feminist influence on Swedish law and would not be criminalized in England, provoking feminist and anti-feminist commentary. Thus, this article illuminates the salience of feminist constructions of sexual violence for digital news and points to broader social contestation over the meaning of rape fostered by digital media