Marissa Moran and Douglas Griffin
Some sites, like delmagyar.hu, decided to keep the comments section open, but introduced premoderation to filter out statements that could prove problematic before they appear in the public domain. “Our goal is to assure quality, pure content and to keep away those who would ‘litter’ the comments section,” the site informed its readers.… “As of late, a rising number of comments posted below our articles were personal and insulting and had little to do with the content matter.”4 Today, some sites such as politics.hu have disclaimers above the comments sections that state they are not responsible for the views expressed by readers but do reserve the right to remove off-topic material or that which constitutes “hate speech.” However, by stating that comments are indeed moderated, the usergenerated content arguably becomes editorial content and is therefore potentially subject to the law. As a result, newsrooms tend to moderate comments without publicly stating that they do so in order to limit their own liability. Jordan The government of Jordan, which is an OSCE Mediterranean Partner for Co-operation, recently proposed amendments to the existing Press and Publications Law that will require “electronic publications” to obtain licenses and give executives the power to block websites or shut them down if they are not licensed. These amendments were met with widespread public outcry that they would restrict online content in ways that violate international standards for freedom of expression. The nongovernmental organization Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticized the government’s definition of electronic publications as too vague, and pointed out that the law does not clarify whether or not the law pertains to sites registered abroad or in other languages. Despite these criticisms, Jordan’s King Abdullah has endorsed the law. The role of intermediary players such as website managers and editors-in-chief of news sites is controversial under Jordan’s proposed amendments because it makes them responsible for comments posted by other users. Managers would be required “not to publish comments containing information or facts unrelated to the news item or if their truth has not been checked.” According to HRW, Jordan’s government did not provide sufficient reasoning for blocking comments that are “unrelated to the news item” and should not require that comments be tested for 4 Media: no comments, please. Budapest Business Journal. 1 August 2011. http://www.bbj.hu/politics/media-no-comments-please_59181
48