© 2008 The Associated Press (Photo:Damian Dovarganes)
The Reporter's Committee for Freedom of the Press(RCFP) reports that the controversial website JuicyCampus has announced it will no longer be online. Thousands of college students from all over the country could post crude comments about their peers anonymously. The RCFP says many college administrators and students expressed great concern over the language used to attack an individual’s character.
CEO of the website Matt Ivester gave a comment to the AP saying,
“In these historically difficult economic times, online ad revenue has plummeted and venture capital funding has dissolved," said Ivester who founded the site in 2007.
The RCFP reports that people posted comments on the site such as “biggest slut on campus,” and jokes about peoples’ weight were also common. However, this type of speech is legal by federal law under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. The law states that the website cannot be held legally responsible for what is posted.
Juicy Campus spokesperson Steven Wilson told the AP that the site did not shut down because of public criticism.
The AP interviewed Andy Canales, Student Body president at Pepperdine University, Malibu, CA. According to the AP he was very vocal in his opposition to the JuicyCampus website.
· If you were going to advertise for this site, how would you argue that this speech is protected under the First Amendment and not hate speech?
· The Communications Decency Act says "No provider or user of an interactive computer service shall be treated as the publisher or speaker of any information provided by another information content provider." How does this apply to the JuicyCampus website?
· Think about this site in terms of William Posser's summary of privacy protection in terms of Tort law, or one person's responsibility towards another. Does this site disclose embarrassing facts about people? Is it false publicity? Think about how one would argue this site as a publication.
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