Late Friday, First Look Media, which was founded by Mr. Omidyar, said that in keeping with its mission to protect the First Amendment, it would be helping to organize supporting briefs for Gawker’s appeal.

“The possibility that Gawker may have to post a bond for $50 million or more just to be able to pursue its right to appeal the jury’s verdict raises serious concerns about press freedom,” Lynn Oberlander, general counsel for First Look, said in a statement.

“We welcome the support at the appellate level,” Gawker said in its own statement.

In some ways Silicon Valley’s reaction is not surprising. A journalist’s job, at least in theory, is to ask questions and print the truth, which means it is less than loved in citadels of power. But in Silicon Valley, even the media hates the media.

“Gawker can burn in hell,” the TechCrunch founder Michael Arrington said on Twitter, though he also called Mr. Thiel “cowardly” for not being open about financing the lawsuits against Gawker. TechCrunch began as a site that worked hand in hand with start-ups to chart their progress.

For Ken Shotts, who teaches ethics and strategy at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, Mr. Thiel’s secret campaign against Gawker brought to mind General Motors’ pursuit of Ralph Nader 50 years ago. G.M. set private detectives on Mr. Nader to get the dirt on him that would nullify his criticism of its Corvair car. G.M. went beyond the pale, and was punished. The president of G.M. was forced to appear before Congress and apologize for harassing and intimidating the company’s critic.

“Companies face constraints,” said Mr. Shotts. “That’s a good thing. Individuals are less constrained, and billionaires hardly at all.”

From this perspective, what Mr. Thiel did was less of an aberration and more of that old Silicon Valley stand-by: a new product launch. It is now out of stealth mode and getting good reviews among potential users.