Campus gossip website stirs up controversy about limits of hate, threats and defamation on the Web
Feb 24th, 2008 by Rob
The campus gossip website JuicyCampus.com is attracting some negative attention from people who have been offended by the site’s racy content.
JuicyCampus, which has been banned on several college campuses, is a message board that enables users to anonymously post malicious comments about other students – one enlightening post asks, “What sorority houses do the most blow?” Another describes a classmate who “looks like pig that got smacked in the face with a paddle.” Several other threads ask users to rank students—by name—in order of physical appearance, obnoxiousness, etc.
The site’s privacy policy bans any comment that “is unlawful, threatening, abusive, tortious, defamatory, obscene, libelous, or invasive of another’s privacy,” yet it also goes out of its way to explain that opinions “can be stupid, or ignorant, or mean-spirited, but they can’t be untrue. And we believe everyone is entitled to their opinion.”
JuicyCampus creator Matt Ivester was quoted by the Associated Press,
“We believe that Juicy Campus can have a really positive impact on college campuses, as a place for both entertainment and free expression. Frankly, we’re surprised that any college administration would be against the free exchange of ideas.”
The policy also includes a clause that reads, “It is not possible for anyone to use this website to find out who you are or where you are located,” also advising users, “If you are particularly concerned about hiding your ip address, there are several services that offer free ip-cloaking.”
In December a student at Loyola-Marymount University in Los Angeles was arrested after threatening to “shoot and kill as many people as I can” in a posting on JuicyCampus. (University officials and police were able to trace the post to the student’s computer; the website’s owners did not release his identity).
