« Ind. Decisions - Court of Appeals issues 5 today (and 16 NFP) | Main | Ind. Courts - Judge rules the school corporation itself cannot be held criminally responsible for failing to report sex abuse »

Tuesday, November 29, 2011

Ind. Courts - More on "An Illinois Court Weighs in on the Protection of Anonymous Internet Message Board Speech"

Updating this ILB entry from earlier today as it relates to an Indiana case on protecting the anonomity of Indianapolis Star commentors, In re Indiana Newspapers, scheduled for oral argument before the Indiana Court of Appeals on Monday, Dec. 12, 2011, the ILB overlooked mentioning Star Editor Dennis Ryerson's opinion piece in this Sunday's Star.

Ryerson writes that starting Tuesday, Nov. 27th, comments on Star stories will no longer be anonymous. Indeed, the only way to submit comments will be through your Facebook account. From the article:

For several years we have allowed users of Indy Star.com, our main news website, to provide their comments with stories we post. Our intent was to use the Internet to provide immediate reader comment as stories were breaking.

Unlike our signature requirements for letters to the editor, we have allowed anonymous comments on IndyStar.com. Our theory was that robust conversation would promote more conversation and that we should not restrict the openness of the worldwide web.

It didn't work as intended, which is why, beginning Tuesday, we will be moving all story comment to the Facebook social network site.

We're doing this because along with anonymity has come an unacceptable level of hatred, crude language and other nastiness. * * *

Several newspapers have "beta" tested Facebook comments and universally found that tying comments to a person's Facebook identity promotes civil discourse. An ambitious study by the Los Angeles Times allowed readers to post comments anonymously while other readers were directed to Facebook. The latter significantly reduced name-calling and other bad behavior.

ILB: Although this is Tuesday, the Facebook comment system is not yet in operation on the Star site. It is in operation on the DesMoines Regster site. Here is their FAQ.

It seems you have to be registered with Facebook not only to comment, but even to read others' comments. Those of us who do not care to sign up with Facebook are out-of-luck. I will miss the ability to read the comments in the Sports section, but not enough to join Facebook.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on November 29, 2011 06:01 PM
Posted to Indiana Courts