Posted on 11/18/2005 5:23:44 PM PST by GSWarrior
SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) -- Days after a woman was accused of offering her 4-year-old daughter up for sex on Craigslist, the website faces a new investigation.
This time, it is over a posting inviting people to a "bashing party" targeting the homeless. Investigators say they are very interested in the posting and are now seeking a search warrant to find its author.
But the legal questions they have to ask: was it a hoax? A true threat? Or just hyperbole?
The posting in question came on the website's message boards. The invitation: bring bats and clubs, even torches -- to beat up the homeless in San Francisco on Halloween night. The group, according to the posting, should meet at 12th and Folsom streets at midnight for what would be an annual bashing event.
Coincidentally that night, a homeless man was set on fire and died of his injuries. But police say there's no connection. Investigators however, are still investigating the threat.
Craigslist is cooperating while trying to protect privacy and obey the law.
"We're pretty passionate helping out victims and police deal with these things to the extent where we've learned very well how to both protect rights of the accused and also how to help the cops deal with these things," said Craigslist founder Craig Newmark.
This bashing party invitation follows two recent postings on Craigslist where sex was being advertised -- with girls ages 4 and 14.
The potential criminal activity involving the online service is a sensitive free speech issue.
"If somebody's instituting a true threat, that is not protected speech. But if they are joking about it, depending on context, it could be protected speech," said Kurt Opsahl of the Electronic Frontier Foundation.
Craigslist says it gets 2.5 million postings a month. It's impossible for the online service to police the content.
So they did the next best thing: let the users police themselves with a "flagging system," where if a posting receives enough flags, it gets automatically removed.
Federal law already protects websites from liability for postings by a third party. Anything more, say advocates, will be disastrous.
"It would be a terrible idea to impose liability on service providers for what third parties post because that would leave the Internet in the province of only the very rich and powerful companies who have resources to review every post before it went on the web," Opsahl said.
Craigslist says it runs an open website and the majority of people who use it are looking for the services it publicizes like job offers, rentals, and want ads. For the most part, Newmark says, the people who use it are legitimate and trustworthy.
This guy could be a Louisiana appellate judge: right conclusion, totally wrong rationale.
Now if only the feds would go after the eco-terrorists as fast as they go after a posting on Craigslist about the homeless. Barf Alert!
Leaving for the weekend...unable to respond to posts till later....
CL has been taken over by trolls and porno spammers. Since people generally are too lazy to flag those posts they tend to take over (kudzu, Internet-style).
Personally, I have a dark fantasy of finding the owner of the worst CL spammer and introducing them to a hot date with a suicide bomber. But then again, if I said that, I'd have the Feds at my door...
This sucks to see people trashing a board like that. One of the few good alternatives to Ebay left.
It was posted in the "Rants & Raves " section. That whole area is pretty "non-PC". Basically, it's a bunch of sophmoric insults being tossed back and forth anonymously. If you don't get insulted there, then you aren't breathing. Oh wait, there were some posts concerning dead people in New Orleans...
Craigslist is a great site. I used it to sell my old computer, and to find a beach house rental. Free to use and there is so much on there. Shame the scum bags are coming to it.
A family member was targeted by a con-man stalker on Craigslist. Be very careful, folks.
How 'bout you just establish some standards of conduct and then no one will be confused.
Whores use it - they don't have pimps any more.
"How 'bout you just establish some standards of conduct and then no one will be confused."
THANK YOU!
From what I understand of Craig's List, a person could post a "let's have a riot" post as a joke, and readers could still show up and have that riot for real.
True of the discussion boards, but I just bought a car from there, and I didn't see a lot of spam on the vehicle listings. And what there was was targeted -- government auctions and such.
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