Anonymous forums have been on college campuses for a long time. Back in my day, it was College ACB, but the site got shut down due to nasty messages calling out particular organizations and even people. But when one goes down, another springs up and the gossip continues. It looks like the app Yik Yak might soon be following College ACB’s road to demise, at least at the College of Idaho. The school’s student senate banned Yik Yak from campus this semester after seven students filed complaints with the school’s campus safety office about feeling threatened by messages on the app.
“If someone puts a racist epithet on a Latino’s door, or a black person’s door, there’s at least a potential evidence thread that can be investigated,” said college president Marv Henberg. “Not with Yik Yak.”
Back in March, College of Idaho leaders asked Yik Yak to install a “geo-fence” to disable the app on campus. While the company has installed such “geo-fences” around certain middle schools and high schools in response to bullying, they have not responded to the College of Idaho’s request, according to the Idaho Statesman. If Yik Yak does not respond to the College of Idaho’s request, the school’s IT department will ban the app on the college’s wireless network. However, the “geo-fence” wouldn’t be able to stop students from using the app off campus.
Is this a limit on freedom of speech? Or do students just need to be nicer to each other?
