Blogger code criticized

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an interesting article in the globe today ...

Blogger code criticized

CASSANDRA SZKLARSKI

Canadian Press

TORONTO — A proposed code of conduct meant to establish online civility is being met with criticism as debate surges over how best to handle vitriolic incidents such as one that recently shut down a prominent blogger.

Web observers say the disturbing attack against tech writer Kathy Sierra could inspire a chill among some writers and has already fuelled a crackdown by a growing number of bloggers keen to weed out comments deemed inappropriate from their web pages.

It's an impassioned debate that is pitting arguments for free speech against a call for enforced civility and has turned the spotlight on the nature of sexism on the web.

"I think the Wild West is being tamed, slowly but surely," Toronto blogger and entrepreneur Mark Evans says of the fallout from the online attack.

"I think a lot of people have come to the realization that you can't just do what you want online, even if you think that you're being anonymous. It's a public forum and there's no private conversations. In many cases, it's all out there."

The firestorm over online behaviour erupted several weeks ago when an anonymous person posted a series of threats on Sierra's blog and several other webpages that had been created to attack the programming instructor and Colorado author.

Sierra had been commenting on a tech column by Canadian blogger Tara Hunt, who wrote on her site about the importance of having a "higher purpose" in web work.

The attacks escalated to a digitally altered photo of Sierra that was posted online with graphic and sexually violent comments. Sierra called police, cancelled a speaking engagement at a San Diego conference and has effectively retired from her blog, Creating Passionate Users (http://headrush.typepad.com/).

"I will not return to my blog (and speaking) as usual, at least not for a long time, because the same things will only happen again," Sierra says in an interview conducted by e-mail.

"I am trying to figure out what to do that will make me less of a target, including lowering my visibility by not speaking at conferences, and possibilities like writing under a fake name, or writing a group blog where I'm just one of many authors."

She remains mystified over why she was targeted so savagely, but suspects her growing online celebrity may have drawn attention-seekers. A-listers tend to draw the biggest fire in the blogosphere.

Since the incident, Sierra has received an outpouring of support from high-profile bloggers including Robert Scoble, as well as Hunt and Sierra's publisher Tim O'Reilly, who proposed a draft set of guidelines to prevent inappropriate behaviour online.

The proposed code of conduct is based on tenets established by the women's site BlogHer, and would have site owners take responsibility for their own words and for the comments allowed on their blog.

O'Reilly encourages input on his initial draft which suggested banning lies, abuse and, more controversially, anonymous comments. Since then he's said that anonymous comments are sometimes warranted.

But Evans questions how such a code could be enforced and how one would consistently determine what's acceptable.

He notes that some of the uglier aspects of the Sierra attacks emerged in comments posted by self-appointed "vigilantes" who took it upon themselves to rally a witch hunt against the offender.

"Things got completely out of hand. All of a sudden you had a mob scene," recalls Evans.

Nevertheless, Evans says bloggers should take greater care over what they post online, predicting that libel will become an increasing part of the landscape.

"So far, I don't think the legal community has paid that much attention to the blogosphere because it's not seen as mainstream media right now. But as blogs become more popular, bloggers who are seen to make libellous comments about people or companies are going to find themselves targets."

Sierra doubted that a code of conduct would have any impact on those bent on lashing out, noting that anyone who would adhere to such a code already does so and anyone who wouldn't isn't about to start.

A better approach is for members of the online community to speak out when they see inappropriate behaviour, she said.

"There has been a slow and steady acceptance of abuse and harassment online, to the point where way too many people don't even seem to notice when the line has been crossed ... when a nasty comment moves from, 'You're an idiot.' to 'You're an idiot and deserve to be raped and killed."' Hunt, a marketer and blogger now based in San Francisco, fears that a code of conduct could actually stifle more voices than intended.

"We can't be so reactive as to shut down open discourse over a couple of bad incidents," says Hunt, originally from Saskatoon, Sask. "We have to be careful in order to make sure it's balanced and that we don't push people further into the shadows that really need to get encouraged to talk."

In the meantime, Sierra fears that the attacks she suffered has already curbed the voices of other women.

"I've heard women say this is changing their view about what they say, and how public they are," she writes. "On the other hand, it has caused some women to speak out more — to say they are no longer going to just ignore the comments on their blog and elsewhere that are clearly over the line and intimidating or sexually threatening."