Courts not to get juicy this month

(c) 2002 Associated Press Photo by Dan Kuh

by Taylor Engler


Earlier this month a University of Delaware student, known as Jane Doe, filed a lawsuit against statements on the Web site JuicyCampus.com, alleging libel. She is now withdrawing from the suit and the courts have escaped a test of The First Amendment's protection of anonymous online speech, according to an article on the Web site for The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press.

Juicy Campus was founded in 2007 by a graduate of Duke University, Matt Ivester, and allows posters to anonymously write gossip about fellow students under tabs specific to their university, according to an article on CNN.com. The majority of the site is negative gossip, centering around promiscuity, prejudice, abortion rumors, and physical appearance. This form of online "bullying" can be extremely detrimental to students emotionally, according the the CNN article.

In the case, Jane Doe v. John Does 1-5, the Delaware student accused five anonymous posters of writing libelous information about her sexual history on the Web site, according to the Reporters' article. Juicy Campus itself is protected from lawsuits through the Communications Decency Act of 1996 which protects Web sites from comments written by third parties when the Web site has no hand in the speech, according to the Reporters' article.

While the Web site promises its posters 100 percent anonymity, a poster can be tracked down through their IP address in extreme situations. In early 2008, a Colgate University student was charged with harassment for writing a post on Juicy Campus threatening a mass shooting, according to an article on UticaOD.com. The student was tracked down by the Web site because of the seriousness of the threat.

While the Web site is protected and will not face discussions in the courts in this case, students across the county are speaking out on the issue according to an article on The First Amendment Center Web site. Students at Pepperdine University voted to ban the site from their campus earlier this year, although the administration did not take action because of First Amendment issues, according to the article.

“I never feel guilty for a form of speech. The First Amendment is so important in this country in providing a place where students can speak,” said Ivester in the Reporters' article.