Thursday, March 27, 2008

A way found to get at slanderous site?

We read:

"Internet rumor mill JuicyCampus is in hot water yet again. JuicyCampus, a web site that publishes anonymous, often malicious gossip about college students, has come under fire from student groups at several colleges and universities who say it is ruining reputations. Now, state prosecutors in New Jersey have subpoenaed records from JuicyCampus in an investigation into whether the site is committing consumer fraud.

Language on the site ranges from catty to hateful and offensive. One thread, for example, on the "most overrated Princeton student" quickly dissolves into name-calling, homophobia, and anti-Semitism.

JuicyCampus might be violating New Jersey's Consumer Fraud Act by suggesting that it doesn't allow offensive material but providing no enforcement of that rule-and no way for users to report or dispute the material, New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram said March 18.

Source

I am not much concerned about the alleged "hate speech" as such. It's truth that primarily concerns me. And there has to be some recourse against UNTRUE defamatory statements.