Journal of Business & Technology Law Volume 11 | Issue 2 Article 7 Campus Safety v. Freedom of Speech: An Evaluation of University Responses to Problematic Speech on Anonymous Social Media Susan DuMont Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/jbtl Part of the First Amendment Commons Recommended Citation Susan DuMont, Campus Safety v. Freedom of Speech: An Evaluation of University Responses to Problematic Speech on Anonymous Social Media, 11 J. Bus. & Tech. L. 239 (2016) Available at: http://digitalcommons.law.umaryland.edu/jbtl/vol11/iss2/7 This Notes & Comments is brought to you for free and open access by the Academic Journals at DigitalCommons@UM Carey Law. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Business & Technology Law by an authorized editor of DigitalCommons@UM Carey Law. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. Susan DuMont* Campus Safety v. Freedom of Speech: An Evaluation of University Responses to Problematic Speech on Anonymous Social Media Introduction Social media impacts how college students interact, and universities are struggling with the challenges presented by problematic speech on these sites. Platforms that encourage unidentified posting, such as Yik Yak and former gossip site JuicyCampus.com, significantly increase the potential for real harm through problematic speech, including hate speech, threats of violence, sexual harassment, and other forms of damaging, anonymous speech.1 University administrators are forced to evaluate options for responding to problematic speech on anonymous social media sites.2 Given the current culture of treating the internet as the “Wild West,” it is understandable why universities may choose to ignore the sites and why response has been limited.3 On the other end of © 2016 Susan DuMont * J.D., University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law, 2016; M.A., University of Delaware, 2010; B.A., Lake Forest College, 2007.