The Internet is slowly becoming a less anonymous place. YouTube has a new policy encouraging commenters to use their real names, and many news sites have switched to a login system run by Facebook.Continue reading.
News sites that still allow anonymous comments are finding there are legal risks. The Spokesman-Review newspaper in Spokane, Wash., has spent the last few months trying to protect the identity of a reader who saw a photo of a Republican Party official in Idaho named Tina Jacobson, and then posted a disparaging comment.
The paper's city editor, Addy Hatch, practically has the comment memorized, given the amount of trouble it's caused.
"Is that the missing $10,000 from Kootenai County Central Committee funds stuffed inside Tina's blouse?" Hatch recites.
Besides insulting Jacobson's appearance, the comment suggested she stole party funds. Jacobson decided to sue the commenter for defamation — and took the paper to court to make it reveal the person's name.
The paper resisted — on principle, Hatch says.
"You know, it's against the grain for a newspaper to give up anonymous sources of any kind," Hatch says. "And we just felt like we had to take a stand."
RELATED: At Blazing Cat Fur, "Why Did the Globe Pull Paul Koring's Chick-fil-A Article?": "Personally I suspect it was the comments that got it pulled, the tolerant left was out in force making supreme asses of themselves."
Yeah, it was the comments alright. I read through some of those earlier. F-king progs are out for blood.
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