Countless Bloggers across the internet are trying to get defamatory content removed from Blogspot.com.
Blogger’s Terms of Service states:
“Member agrees not to transmit through the Service any unlawful, harassing, libelous, abusive, threatening, or harmful material of any kind or nature.”
As well as:
“You agree that Pyra (Blogger/Google), in its sole discretion, may terminate your password, BlogSpot Site, use of the Service or use of any other Pyra service, and remove and discard any Content within the Service, for any reason, including, without limitation, for lack of use or if Pyra believes that you have violated or acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of the TOS (Terms of Service).”
Despite these terms, Blogger will not remove content no matter how harassing, threatening, abusive or discriminating from blogs unless they have a court order. Blogger even states so at the following url.
Quoting from Blogger Help:
“We do not remove allegedly defamatory content from www.google.com or any other U.S. dot com domains.”
“US domain sites such as Google.com, Blogger, Page Creator, etc. are sites regulated only by U.S. law. Given this fact, and pursuant to Section 230(c) of the Communications Decency Act, we do not remove allegedly defamatory material from U.S. domains. The only exception to this rule is if the material has been found to be defamatory by a court, as evidenced by a court order.”
Richard Silverstein has been trying to take down a fake, offending blog about him.
Richard says, “Currently there is a website at Blogger created in my name using defamatory & infringing material to ridicule me. It’s a horrid, despicable site.” Blogger refuses to remove harassing blogs relying on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which was written to protect hosts like Blogger from being liable for illegal material published by third parties on their servers. Even though the blog violates Blogger’s TOS in countless ways, they hide behind Section 230.
Where does this leave Richard, Frozty, myself and countless other’s who have been dealing with cyber harassment on the net? Well if you are the victim of such internet harassment and cannot hire a lawyer that specializes in internet law, then there is a good chance that you will continue to be victimized until the harasser stops behaving in this manner.
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10 responses so far ↓
Richard Silverstein
// Jun 24, 2007 at 2:04 am
Rose: I’m so sorry to hear about yr experience. I’ll check those “related post” links to get the basic story of what’s befallen you. I’m happy to commiserate w. folks in my shoes so to speak.
I’ve dealt w. the issue in a number of ways which may or may not be appropriate for any others suffering out fate. I’ve decided to be aggressive about it & open as well. While I don’t want to publicize the site inordinately, I’ve been public about it & even linked to it one time at my blog just so I gave my readers that one opportunity to see what it was if they wanted.
I’ve aggressively pursued media opportunities to “out” the site & its anonymous creator, which has only made that person & his allies madder at me. Too bad is what I say.
I’ve also gotten some pro bono legal representation & gotten Blogger to take down 2 diff. sets of infringing images of me displayed at the fake blog site.
What I really wish is that there was a bloggers union or association to which folks paid dues & which retained legal assistance for members so that they could puruse a few of these cases to set an example. I don’t have the personal funds to go after this dude (it IS a guy). But if someone went after a few of these anonymous jackasses & revealed their identity, then others would realize they might be pursued and Blogger too might realize there could be repurcussions for them.
In the media coverage I’ve received I’ve requested that reporters name Blogger as the webhost. I want Blogger to pay a price for hiding behind Section 230. It may be a tiny price considering how big they are, but whatever I can do to tell the world about Blogger’s irresponsible behavior is worthy doing.
People I respect (including my own wife) tell me I’m falling into a trap set for me by the cyber-bullies, that I’m stooping to their level, or wasting too much of my own energy on this mission. While I have to respect the sentiment & be careful in my own actions not to cross over a line–it’s just plain difficult perhaps for others to know what it’s like when you are personally defamed & assaulted by cyber-bullies.
I also recommend getting fellow blogging allies to speak up for you & attack the bullies. Nothing can be better than having a bully realize that you are not alone, but that others “have your back.” Then they’ve got to attack or at least face a group, rather than a lone person.
I have been disappointed that more of my fellow progressive Jewish bloggers haven’t come to my defense (though some have). So I’d urge other bloggers & readers out there to be strong & supportive if you know others are coming under this sort of attack. Don’t stand back. That’s what the bullies want.
Anyway, my 2 cents.
Jo
// Jun 24, 2007 at 3:00 am
It really is a pity that Blogger lets those sorts of things stay up. It’s negatively affected their reputation. What’s the point of having a TOS if they’re not going to enforce it? They may as well say, “Put whatever you want up! It’s all good!” They’re a good host, except for this.
Seamus
// Jun 24, 2007 at 9:14 am
Hopefully some sensible laws will finally catch up to the technology soon.
royal52gens
// Jun 24, 2007 at 12:29 pm
I know a lady that has also been going through things similar to what Richard has described. Your article is quite enlightening. I look forward to reading more of your articles and research results. Thank you for posting this information.
Rose DesRochers
// Jun 24, 2007 at 12:59 pm
I’ve spoken to a couple lawyers who state that it all fall into that gray area of Internet law. There is something serious wrong with a platform that would allow their users to be harassed or that would allow individuals to transmit through their services content which is harassing, libelous and abusive. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act provides absolute immunity for Blogger, but what does it do for those that are being abused? Tim O’Reilly called for a Bloggers code of ethics as a result of Kathy Sierra’s being targeted by a series of increasingly violent and disturbing anonymous comments on her blog.
Cyber harassment is unfortunately, becoming a little too common these days. Thank you to all those that replied and Richard I can only hope that your situation will have a positive outcome.
Richard Silverstein
// Jun 24, 2007 at 8:47 pm
I think you’re viewing Blogger’s TOS in a reasonable manner. But Blogger doesn’t view its TOS that way. The TOS don’t mean that they WILL ban those who abuse them. They only mean that they MAY ban them. But they may not as well. That provides Blogger with maximum leverage to determine what is most convenient for it as a company.
In that sense, TOS are a misnomer as far as Blogger is concerned. They are not meant to be rules by which all customers are supposed to behave. Would that it were so. TOS are terms Blogger may use if it wishes to ban a customer. But that is totally up to Blogger’s discretion in terms of implementation.
Dazd
// Jun 25, 2007 at 12:09 pm
Common sense tells me that anything written or said harassing, libelous and abusive would automatically fall under liable or slander.
But thats common sense.
Rose DesRochers
// Jun 27, 2007 at 11:26 pm
Dazd, too bad that not everyone uses common sense.
Steve Reichard
// Jun 28, 2007 at 12:30 am
This is absolutely dispicable of Blogger. They need to review their terms and take down harassing remarks made to anyone.
I know the harassment you have went through my friend and I am here for you always.
Angela Buer
// May 13, 2008 at 9:58 am
I, too have been suffering personal attacks on these “blog” sites and have sent numerous emails citing their TOS terms and the violation thereof. Here is one of their responses. Considering I do not participate in most boards or blogs, I am confused as to why these abusers are allowed to use the names of myself, my friends and my family members to post defamatory remarks.
Thank you for your inquiry. We wanted to respond to your email so that you know we have received your complaint, and to explain why we cannot take action at this time. Digg is committed to maintaining a platform for free speech – like a town square. As such, we must be vigilant about maintaining a strictly neutral position with respect to the public debate that occurs on the site. If you feel that someone has defamed you, the proper recourse is to address the issue with them, either directly or through the proper authorities.
Here is a helpful link that provides some information about defamation law, we hope this is a useful starting point should you decide to take action in this case.
http://www.chillingeffects.org/defamation/faq.cgi
Thank you for your understanding, and we sincerely hope you are able to resolve this matter through the proper authorities. Please feel free to contact us if you have further questions. To the extent that any threats have been made against you, please forward to us the URLs at which such posts at digg.com have been made so that we may further assess this matter.
–Digg Support
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