Today a Wall Street Journal editorial describes the personal devastation caused by online postings to a college WEB blog autoadmit.com
The Open Records defense of public posting of information is that blog posting is free speech. The argument becomes a little weak for anonymous postings. An anonymous user can libel another user such that the target has no recourse and no way to respond. The result can be real and substantitive damage to the target.
The free speech argument anticipates a back and forth discourse in the marketplace of ideas. An individual can put forward and argument but be required to respond to a rebuttal. In pugislistic terms, if you step forward and rhetorically take a swing at someone, expect a swing back. Anonymous posting is more like one fighter punching a blindfolded opponent.
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