Gossip Web Site Draws Controversy

While UC Berkeley has a long history of noisy protests and unregulated debates, a newly launched gossip Web site has raised concerns about Internet freedom and the limits of free speech.

Last month, UC Berkeley became one of 57 colleges with a page on

www.juicycampus.com, a nationwide Web site that enables students to post uncensored comments on campus-specific boards while remaining anonymous.

"The site is meant to be a place for fun, light-hearted gossip and entertainment," said founder Matt Ivester. "All of the content on Juicy Campus is user-generated and we leave it to our users to decide what community they want to create."

The site, launched nationally in October 2007 according to Ivester, has been increasing in size, with some postings on the UC Berkeley board seeing more than 2,000 views since its launch.

Some students said that the anonymous postings have targeted specific groups and individuals on campus, and can be hurtful and often defamatory.

UC Berkeley freshman Trang Huynh said a friend of hers was upset by comments posted on the site.

"My friend was called promiscuous, which was really hurtful," she said. "You can really spread vicious rumors on there, which might not even be true."

The site has caused a national debate, leading many student governments to condemn the site and both pro and anti-Juicy Campus Facebook groups to be established.

The UC Berkeley Greek community has been particularly affected by Juicy Campus with a specific section on the site entitled Greek Organizations, where comments like "Biggest Sorority Slut" can be posted.

"Juicy Campus is a gossip Web site and gossip is usually negative," said Christina Starzak, president of the UC Berkeley Panhellenic Council. "It is really inappropriate and we have urged all our members to refrain from writing on the site."

Starzak added that there was currently a letter being drafted by the Panhellenic Council president at UC Irvine asking Juicy Campus to remove all UC chapters from the Web site.

But according to Mark Lucia, attorney for students at UC Berkeley's Campus Life and Leadership, the legal protections given to Web sites like Juicy Campus are broad, offering them enormous leeway for what is posted.

Under Section 230 of the Federal Communications Decency Act, providers of an "interactive computer service" are provided immunity from issues of liability, Lucia added.

According to Ivester, Juicy Campus does not have to monitor any posts that are published on its site or keep track of who writes specific comments.

One exception was seen in December 2007, when 21-year-old Carlos Huerta, a Loyola Marymount University student, was arrested after allegedly threatening to shoot people on campus via an anonymous thread published on the site.

"If something is a clear and present danger to students, then we will fully cooperate with the police and that is what we did then," Ivester said.

While officials in the UC system have discussed effects of the site on campuses, UC Berkeley has no power to censor it in any way, said Shelton Waggener, UC Berkeley's associate vice chancellor and chief information officer.

"I find the site to be exceptionally vapid and vain and I don't think there is much substance to the content," he said. "However, we could only step in if the site was violating privacy standards set by federal policies, which currently it isn't."

UC policy prohibits a Web site from posting protected data which includes a student's name with a social security number, driver's license number, credit card number or grades, Waggener said.

But even if the campus blocked the Web site from its network, it would still be accessible from any non-campus Internet connection, Waggener added.

"The idea that the university could somehow stop the content being posted or viewed is false," he said. "The only thing that will work is if students stop using Juicy Campus. It will then simply go away."

Tags: JUICY CAMPUS