How Free is Blogging Speech?
Up until recently, bloggers seem to have been able to get off the hook when it comes to issues of defamation. Blogging has been an unmoderated outlet for people express opinions and it often gets snarky, mean, and utterly raw. What started as basically an online dairy has evolved into not just a place to vent, as you would with a notebook you keep in your bedside drawer, but also a place where the blogger knows others will possibly see their thoughts and opinions.
Now, we see people trying to fight against the voice of bloggers using the legal system. Here in Florida, The New School of Orlando, a private school, is suing Sonjia McSween, claiming defamation. They say that a blog she wrote about her daughter’s experience at the school was critical to the point of going over the line.
The school wants McSween to stop publishing posts about the school and to pay damages. McSween says she simply wanted to share her experiences with others. The school accuses her of reporting fabricated information.
It’s a question about how freedom of speech applies to blogs. Blogs are a soapbox for the author. How far can we go and to what extent can others control what we say?
I’ve already experienced a lock of freedom of speech when two blogs I had on sub domains of Rainbow of Words were pulled offline. The owner did not like my content, and despite a lack of a TOS that outlined her actions, she exerted strong arm tactics to censor me.
There have been countless incidents of bloggers losing their jobs when someone at their company comes across their blog. And now, a school claiming defamation of interference with their business. This goes beyond public relations and becomes an issue of information control.
I think bloggers should use tact and wisdom when writing. I think we should do our very best to speak only the truth and not to perpetuate unfounded rumors and lies. But, I think a blogger’s opinion is their own. A fact is not an opinion. I am sure that the New School of Orlando is teaching even their kindergarteners that language arts lesson. Now, it needs to be put into practice.
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