Spring Break
The Daily OrangeA new generation of gossip | Web site Juice Gossip invokes free speech issues
By Bill McMillan
Posted: 3/28/08, 12:56 AM EST Section: News
Not many people know, but Chelsa Shults has two webbed toes on her left foot.
But by reading posts from juicycampus.com, Shults' fellow students at Harding University can learn this and other bits of information, ranging from the hilarious to the inflammatory.
The Web site, created by Duke University alumnus Matt Ivester in 2005, allows anyone with Internet access to post anything they want about anyone they want. All the while they are able keep "100 percent anonymity," according to the Web site's front page.
An article published in The New York Times on March 16 brought controversy to the site, after a post shattered the reputation of a male Yale University student. The link led to a video of the student engaging in sexual acts with three other men.
Juicy Campus could not be reached for comment.
This post, and others like it, labeling students as promiscuous or revealing private information, have lead to a new kind of debate over free speech on the Internet.
Barbara Fought, the director of the Tully Center for Free Speech and associate professor in broadcast journalism, explained that lawsuits for defamation can happen online just as well as other forms of media.
"The courts have given speech on the Internet as much protection as any medium and in fact more than radio and television," Fought said. "But all free speech has limits, and just like somebody can sue and recover damages for defamation in the newspaper, somebody can sue and recover damages for defamation online."
Fought said a lot of people, particularly college students, don't understand they can be responsible for defamation - which is anything they say that a jury would believe would lower the person's reputation.
In order to classify a statement defamatory, the plaintiff must prove six things, Fought said.
The plaintiff's reputation was harmed in some way.
The defendant did so with negligence or actual malice.
But by reading posts from juicycampus.com, Shults' fellow students at Harding University can learn this and other bits of information, ranging from the hilarious to the inflammatory.
The Web site, created by Duke University alumnus Matt Ivester in 2005, allows anyone with Internet access to post anything they want about anyone they want. All the while they are able keep "100 percent anonymity," according to the Web site's front page.
An article published in The New York Times on March 16 brought controversy to the site, after a post shattered the reputation of a male Yale University student. The link led to a video of the student engaging in sexual acts with three other men.
Juicy Campus could not be reached for comment.
This post, and others like it, labeling students as promiscuous or revealing private information, have lead to a new kind of debate over free speech on the Internet.
Barbara Fought, the director of the Tully Center for Free Speech and associate professor in broadcast journalism, explained that lawsuits for defamation can happen online just as well as other forms of media.
"The courts have given speech on the Internet as much protection as any medium and in fact more than radio and television," Fought said. "But all free speech has limits, and just like somebody can sue and recover damages for defamation in the newspaper, somebody can sue and recover damages for defamation online."
Fought said a lot of people, particularly college students, don't understand they can be responsible for defamation - which is anything they say that a jury would believe would lower the person's reputation.
In order to classify a statement defamatory, the plaintiff must prove six things, Fought said.
Be the first to comment on this story