Recently a website, http://www.schoolrumors.com, was shut down. Here is an article that talks about this incident.
I’ve been to this site several times, and have posted on a few occasions in defense of my friends who were being cruelly humiliated in a public forum. I’ve also posted in support of this site being taken down. People were posting hateful lies with the intent of hurting someone they disliked. Currently, that’s protected under the first Amendment. Many people have been very hurt by this site.
For example:
This just isn’t right. I couldn’t believe the extent of which people would be trying to hurt others. Another example:
To me, that’s simply asking for trouble. It’s sick. But in many cases, that could be protected under the first amendment.
Now, I support having a freedom of speech. I’m usually considered conservative in my views on it. But, I also support having certain limitations on that speech, and believe sites like this should either be banned or severely restricted. What kind of measure should be taken to place limitations on free speech on the web? Should there be numerous lawsuits whenever someone horrific like this arises? Or should their be an international organizations that proposes limitations on the net?
I’m sorry if this has been discussed. I couldn’t find threads matching this when I searched, but I could be wrong.