[awaywopassd]

Absolutely not how real world works. As an online harassment victim, you may never know even know that it is happening online. But all your classmates would know.

The sites might have lies about you or they might even have your real data. Someone might post your real photos; discussing your body, your fashion sense, or whatever that makes you loser.

You are a broke college kid. Good luck finding a lawyer who would help you find anonymous posters and then sue them.

In mean time, your social life is being destroyed. Online harassment seeps into the real world. Your classmates make fun of you in your earshot. You can complain about it once or twice but school get tired of it and stop taking you seriously.

You will get depressed and sducidal unless you have a strong support system. Even then you will have poor grades, you might quit school. Your life is being ruined because people believe in black n white definition of freedom of speech.

Perhaps we should recognize that there are shades of grey. We cannot harass someone in physical world without getting kicked out of establishment or getting arrested.

Maybe we should go after platforms that let online harassment happen on their platform. After all they are profiting off your data, why shouldn't they be held responsible to police their platform better.

That is like saying schools should not punish bullies, let the victim sue the bullies.

[kart23]

It's called free speech. Yes, it sucks to be made fun of online, but most universities are getting better support systems to deal with this kind of stuff. Theres lots of free counseling services on campus that do provide the support in many ways, even with housing and food problems. Police does take threats seriously and will investigate to make sure it is not credible, and people do get kicked out of the university for making threats. But nowhere does blocking a site or service fit into the picture. I'm a student at a UC right now, and this is the message that was given to us.

[ouid]

Harassment is not protected speech. What are you on about?

[ryanlol]

This really depends on what you consider harassment.

[mbrumlow]

And that is the crux of this topic, and why some people find the notion of making blanket rules based off words that are so subjective.

[syrrim]

That's called kids being assholes, it happened long before the internet was invented, and it will continue once we eventually decide to shut down the internet once and for all. The school should have legitimate solutions for it involving punishments against the involved students, and if you can't sue them when they don't, then your fucked under this ruling too, aren't you?

[nitwit005]

That just sounds like high school to me, even though no one was using the internet to communicate. A girl had to leave my high school because other girls were spreading mean rumors behind her back. Some other girls had serious issues with the same problem. The school had no idea what to do.