Connecticut Attorney General's Office
Press Release
Attorney General Praises JuicyCampus Shutdown After His Office Investigated Abuse And Privacy Invasion
February 5, 2009
Blumenthal's investigation revealed that JuicyCampus, a California-based online college gossip site, continuously defied its own posted rules.
JuicyCampus' own terms and conditions required that users "agree to not use" the site to "upload, post email or otherwise transmit any Content that…is is obscene or that violates laws relating to sexually explicit material, that infringes the rights of any third party."
Despite these rules, Blumenthal's investigation revealed assorted hateful, racist, and sexist threads on the site -- most of them posted anonymously and damaging the reputations of college students.
Blumenthal said the site also failed to provide a basic mechanism to report violations of these terms and conditions.
"I'm delighted if our criticism contributed to this insidious site's collapse," Blumenthal said.
"JuicyCampus is deservedly dead -- out of juice and financially ruined after our investigation revealed it was failing to fulfill its own promises to prohibit abusive and obscene posts. JuicyCampus provided a cloak for anonymous wrongdoers, enabling abusive and threatening posts that irreparably and illegally damaged reputations and lives. This site snubbed even the most basic measures to protect the public and its own users, refusing to implement a mechanism to report abuse.
"Advertisers were likely repulsed and resistant to JuicyCampus -- unwilling to support a sinister site that defied its own promises, protecting predators over the public safety interest. My office will continue to fight for stronger online measures that protect against predators and privacy violations."