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Original poster

Muggle net stops being sexist and anti-JKR

34 replies

fromorbit · 25/08/2026 09:22

One of the oldest Harry Potter sites went crazy in 2020 and went all out against Harry's creator JR Rowling because she said she thought women were a thing.

Now the site owners have dismissed the sexists. In 2025 the entire staff was let go, and the archive dating back to 1999 was deleted in April 2026 after a law suit from former staff.

Details:
MuggleNet Drops Staff, Gets Sued, Disapparates, Reappears Brand New

https://www.hogwartsprofessor.com/mugglenet-drops-staff-gets-sued-disapparates-reappears-brand-new/

This is going to be about the huge surge of Potter interest which will occur after the TV series drops in December.

Going to be a lot more reverse ferreting in the coming year I suspect. Obviously profit is part of it, but also a cultural shift. The genderists are losing ground everywhere. The fact they couldn't cancel Harry Potter is part of it, but they also couldn't cancel reality.

MuggleNet Drops Staff, Gets Sued, Disapparates, Reappears Brand New

https://www.hogwartsprofessor.com/mugglenet-drops-staff-gets-sued-disapparates-reappears-brand-new/

OP posts:
ItsCoolForCats · 25/08/2026 13:52

AnotherEmma · 25/08/2026 13:19

Sadly I think the anti-JKR rhetoric is still going strong in the media. Well, it is in the recent Metro article about Kit Harington replacing Nicholas Hoult as Gilderoy Lockhart in the new TV adaptation.

The Metro is ridiculous though. I think a lot of the time they just do it as click bait. Look at the comments though. The top one are always sensible.

AnotherEmma · 25/08/2026 13:19

Sadly I think the anti-JKR rhetoric is still going strong in the media. Well, it is in the recent Metro article about Kit Harington replacing Nicholas Hoult as Gilderoy Lockhart in the new TV adaptation.

nicepotoftea · 25/08/2026 12:36

It was always going to be difficult to keep a fan site going while pretending that the author of the books doesn't exist.

It just sounds so flat.

KnottyAuty · 25/08/2026 12:27

It sounds like the legal challenge from ex staff/volunteers prompted the clean sweep approach. They presumably are aware it’s all on the way back machine as a record but no longer has to be hosted by them. Although perhaps it is also a great benefit if the site’s owners are looking for advertising deals when the new series comes out:

I think what The Leaky Cauldron is missing, though, is that, by suing Topix Media Lab in February for benefitting from their labor without compensation, the legacy MuggleNet staff pushedthe site’s ownership to dump all that content in April so that it could argue in court that said content was both worthless and no longer benefitting the owners, if it ever had.

ChequerToRed · 25/08/2026 11:30

For the times, they are a’ chaaangin’ 🎶

People just want to enjoy things without all the emotional labour, caveats, and declarations. I hope they do some major gatekeeping so the old guard doesn’t slip back in and stink up the place.

Original poster
fromorbit · 25/08/2026 10:37

FlirtsWithRhinos · 25/08/2026 10:10

I don't know the site, but I think the loss of an archive of conversations running from 1999 to 2026 is terribly sad. Even if I would disagree with some of the content, losing any type of record of people speaking at the time in their own words is still a pity IMO. I wish they could have found a different way.

It is a loss from archival perspective. It sounds like it was triggered by the legal drama by the ex staff they were trying to sue the site over content. The article I linked to talks about some of the best posts lost. Worth reading.

Yet the former staff acted against anyone who defied the hate against JKR and censored their posts. The lack of balance is what doomed it. When you head down the absolute censorship path you are screwed. Look at Mumsnet in contrast. You can slag off JKR or laud her to the heavens. As long as you are not abusive/violent you can state your case and argue it out.

If Muggle.Net had done that the staff would not have been fired. In fact it probably would have flourished as lots of people love arguing about JKR and gender. You just create a separate section and let people discuss. Probably would have been enlightening,

Instead they tried to pretend JKR didn't exist and biology didn't either.

OP posts:
FlirtsWithRhinos · 25/08/2026 10:10

I don't know the site, but I think the loss of an archive of conversations running from 1999 to 2026 is terribly sad. Even if I would disagree with some of the content, losing any type of record of people speaking at the time in their own words is still a pity IMO. I wish they could have found a different way.

AmberLime · 25/08/2026 09:59

I remember reaching the point of unfollowing Mugglenet. It must have been 2021. Sad day because I loved the Potter content, but not the JKR bashing.

It would be awful if they got a sponsorship deal now. I will not re-follow them on principle.

ItsCoolForCats · 25/08/2026 09:47

Thanks op. That's interesting. The new series is going to bring JKR's views back into the spotlight. For years, we have had most media taking the TRA line. The BBC has attempted more balance of late (e.g. referring to her as a women's right campaigner rather than an anti-trans activist).

I don't think smearing JKR is going to go down as well as it did 5 years ago. I think there will be more pushback and more awareness of what her actual views are, rather than the lies that have been perpetrated about her for years by TRAs and a biased media.