East Carolinian

Issue date: 11/11/08 Section: News

Media Credit: staff photo

"It's like crack, but juicier … Always anonymous, Always juicy …" reads the slogan of the public student gossip Web site, Juicy Campus.

For anyone that has ever visited the site, it is easy to understand how it got its name: the juicier the post, the better.

The Web site, which was founded in August 2007 by Duke University graduate Matt Ivester, claims to have "the simple mission of enabling online anonymous free speech on college campuses," according to an article on CNN.com.

However, the issue of where the line of free speech is drawn has been popping up on campuses nationwide.

ECU is listed on the site as one of the "500 Juicy Campuses." With thousands of posts with thread titles ranging from students' full names to "Teachers That You Will Love To Get With," "STD Spreading Gay Boys!?!" and "College Hill Whores." Juicy Campus is definitely making waves within the student community.

While some posts are made in good fun, a large number of the posts target specific people, campus organizations, athletic team members and Greek life in a malicious manner, which is raising concern amongst students and administration alike.

"We have been reviewing the issue," said university attorney Donna Payne. "Each situation depends on the particular set of circumstances involved."

Payne went on to explain that gossip sites are very careful of staying within the legal parameters and it is extremely difficult to stop such sites.

Thanks to the Communications Decency Act of 1996, the site is protected under the statement that, "the Internet is a unique medium entitled to the highest protection under the free speech protections of the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution," according to the Center for Democracy and Technology's Web site.

However, students targeted on Juicy Campus need to be aware that they can in fact take action against their "anonymous posters" if statements are false or defamatory.

According to the director of Student Legal Services at ECU, Peter Romary, the first step in removing a libelous or defamatory post is to get in touch with the site administrator and state that the content posted is defamatory, and then ask that it be removed.

"Under some circumstances some posts may be violating criminal law in North Carolina depending on the intent of the writer and who the post is directed to," said Romary.

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