Oh man, I hope I haven't participated in an act of defamation/online rumor-mongering with that typo...which incidentally I still can't find a way to edit...(help anyone?)
There are many issues with how STOMP is run, and I have much to say on its intrusive surveillance and flawed reporting, but for now I'll address the issue at hand -
To re-phrase the question I asked, since the discussion has clarified it up slightly:
Who holds the responsibility for posting erroneous (and damaging) information? Is it STOMP for posting it up after an editor has gone through it, or is the the irresponsible public who sent in the information?
I believe as you do that the STOMP should take up responsibility of it, even though it does not state explicitly that it reports the truth. However, I will not generalize it to ALL platform providers, as this case is very specific to STOMP.
The reason I believe STOMP has responsibility in this case are as follows:
1. The articles go through an editor before being published - hence the editor has responsibility in the matter.
2. It associates itself closely with the Straits Times, a reliable newspaper, and hence implies that the same discernment and judgement in reporting is present in STOMP. It is evident that this is not the case. However, this implied relationship gives the articles on STOMP a greater sense of authority than they would if they were posted in any other forum, and the public will give greater importance to the articles posted.
Hence, if the incident regarding TPJC couple were posted on the hardwarezone forums, and the controversy resulted in their dismissal from student council, I will not demand that the platform provider is responsible, because it does not give the illusion of authority, which STOMP does.
In that case it is clearly the responsibility and fault of the person who posted the incident for misrepresenting facts, much like if the article appears in someone's blog.
Also, just stop and think for a moment - will the principal dismiss the students from their positions if the article were posted on someone's blog or in a random forum? He would probably be hesitant to act based on such flimsy evidence.
Obviously, it makes a difference if STOMP was the one who reports it.
Here's a talk by a STOMP editor: http://theory.isthereason.com/?p=1612. I just found it and hadn't had the time to watch it yet, but the brief given by the blogger seems to list several ethical issues that STOMP tried to address during the talk.
Oh man, I hope I haven't participated in an act of defamation/online rumor-mongering with that typo...which incidentally I still can't find a way to edit...(help anyone?)
There are many issues with how STOMP is run, and I have much to say on its intrusive surveillance and flawed reporting, but for now I'll address the issue at hand -
To re-phrase the question I asked, since the discussion has clarified it up slightly:
Who holds the responsibility for posting erroneous (and damaging) information? Is it STOMP for posting it up after an editor has gone through it, or is the the irresponsible public who sent in the information?
I believe as you do that the STOMP should take up responsibility of it, even though it does not state explicitly that it reports the truth. However, I will not generalize it to ALL platform providers, as this case is very specific to STOMP.
The reason I believe STOMP has responsibility in this case are as follows:
1. The articles go through an editor before being published - hence the editor has responsibility in the matter.
2. It associates itself closely with the Straits Times, a reliable newspaper, and hence implies that the same discernment and judgement in reporting is present in STOMP. It is evident that this is not the case. However, this implied relationship gives the articles on STOMP a greater sense of authority than they would if they were posted in any other forum, and the public will give greater importance to the articles posted.
Hence, if the incident regarding TPJC couple were posted on the hardwarezone forums, and the controversy resulted in their dismissal from student council, I will not demand that the platform provider is responsible, because it does not give the illusion of authority, which STOMP does.
In that case it is clearly the responsibility and fault of the person who posted the incident for misrepresenting facts, much like if the article appears in someone's blog.
Also, just stop and think for a moment - will the principal dismiss the students from their positions if the article were posted on someone's blog or in a random forum? He would probably be hesitant to act based on such flimsy evidence.
Obviously, it makes a difference if STOMP was the one who reports it.
Here's a talk by a STOMP editor: http://theory.isthereason.com/?p=1612. I just found it and hadn't had the time to watch it yet, but the brief given by the blogger seems to list several ethical issues that STOMP tried to address during the talk.