JuicyCampus champions free speech, AGs claim it’s a fraud
I have heard of JuicyCampus, but this is the first time I’ve really checked it out.
For those who have not yet had the pleasure of coming across JuicyCampus, the site serves as a public forum for college students to anonymously gossip about others. As you might imagine, this has bred an explosion in malicious, accusatory, and otherwise not-nice postings—often naming gossip victims by full name and school.
The Attorney General of New Jersey is investigating the site, but it might be a tough case. The site’s use policy (which nobody reads) states that personal information and libelous statements cannot be posted, and that all subpoenas will be answered. This, combined with some protection from the CDA, might give them legal protection–but the question here is extra-legal. Would the average person go to the trouble of getting a lawyer to file a libel suit? No.
This leaves us with a system where we rightly need to protect free speech, but because of technological change, push more people to be concerned about the law. Then again, a site that entices the user to “C’mon. Give us the juice” sounds a little like entrapment.