Reader Comments
Point-Counterpoint: Should we block JuicyCampus' URL at Princeton?
Published: Friday, February 22nd, 2008
YES
A few examples of the juicier posts on juicycampus.com include bicker hosing surprises, biggest tool, loosest vagina, smallest dick and the real reasons people took years off. Pretty funny to us, but pretty humiliating for the subjects of interest.
The University ...(back to the article)
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free to speak...liberty to speak freely...speak without fear...Free Speech...yes! Great idea. whose was it?
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Agreed. If Princeton students want to post incessantly on juicycampus that says something about how "selective" this institution really is. You get what you select for, I suppose--in this case, mostly good kids, and some who made it this far only by tearing others down.
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Wait, someone was actually considering blocking a URL to the entire university? Are you serious? Is that legal in this country? That strikes me as such an absurd proposition that I'm embarrassed the Prince even entertained it. That goes against so many principles of what it means to be in a free country.
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Free speech is something to value and uphold; however, saying cutting and criticizing things about specific individuals WITHOUT EVEN BEING BRAVE ENOUGH TO SIGN YOUR OWN NAME BY IT truly goes against the spirit of free speech and democratic exchange. I'm amazed at how students who look so confident on the outside could be so cowardly and insecure inside that they need to post hurtful things about others on an anonymous website.
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The people shouting 'free speech' will be singing a different tune 5 years from now when the can't get a job because every time an employer googles them a post about them being a coke whore who stole money from orphans shows up. But hey, it's just an anonymous posting.
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Opinions are one thing, but some posts are presented as factual and fall within the legal definition of defamation. The previous commenter correctly makes the point that it would be next to impossible to prove the truth of such libelous statements which is why the person sued would probably lose the case and why people who post statements that defame other individuals should think twice before doing so.
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I had thought libel (perhaps it's slander) had the burden of proof of showing both malevolence (which is definitely true of juicycampus) and that the libelous person said something they knew was false. Offensive is not necessarily false...
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the vast majority of comments on juicycampus are opinions, not alleged facts: hottest ivy member, ugliest students, vagina most resembling a sleeve of wizard... how on earth would someone prove these things to be true if challenged in court when they aren't factual claims? i'm not saying it's a pretty situation... it's pretty disgusting... but i just don't see how someone can be sued for expressing an opinion such as sophmore x is really butt-ugly (however sophmoric the opinion may be).
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A word of caution: the identity of a person who anonymously posts libelous information on JuicyCampus or in any other public forum is not legally protected and that person may be sued. Libel, as written defamation, is presumed to be false and the person sued must be able to prove in court that the statement is true or risk a monetary judgment against him or her.
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Princetonians: the problem is not the website! Someone could just as easily post defamatory comments on the Prince's comments section. Gossip has existed since people learned to speak. Blocking a URL is an incredibly dangerous and stupid precedent. Give it 3 weeks and people will get tired of juicycampus and go back to stabbing eachother in the back through other means. Also, re: the legality, Libel laws in the US are at best nebulous, and virtually non-existent concerning the internet. You can pretty much say whatever you want on the net, provided it doesn't cause any direct physical harm to someone else.
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Actually, Alexis, I don't have to lie--yes the first thing I did when I heard of JuicyCampus was to Wikipedia and then Google it. I even went so far so as to click on the link to the site proper to see if any comments about me had been made. But, I immediately clicked on the red stop sign--I simply didn't want to contribute to their advertising dollars. If the site is as vicious as everyone says it is, then something must be done about it. Vicious claims can destroy a person, regardless of whether they are libelous or true. I agree that banning the site would be not so much wrong as bad. A bad precedent. Still, something has to be done. Ideally we could enact a boycott--but that would be impossible to enforce and unlikely to work. Perhaps the students who have found defamatory posts could unite in legal action. Even though the site apparently has immunity, posters are responsible for their own content. A united front of defamed students could obtain subpoenas in order to bring libel charges against posters, derby undermining the site. Of course, I'm not a lawyer.
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does pton block any URLs? it would be pretty ridiculous to start now with an anonymous gossip site. i mean, anyone who takes those comments 100% seriously probably doesn't belong at pton. anyway, censorship of a URL on a college campus? you've got to be joking.
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