People magazine (subscription only) has a short article this week about a self-explanatory Web site called DontDateHimGirl.com. The 8-month-old site, which allows women to dis guys who have done them wrong, is making news because -- didn't we see this coming? -- it is being sued for defamation by one of the men who appear on it.
Thirty-eight-year-old Pittsburgh attorney Todd Hollis, who is accused on the site of being messy, unfaithful, a deadbeat dad, possibly gay, and suffering from herpes, has sued DontDateHimGirl.com's creator, Tasha Joseph, because she has refused to take down several posts about him, which Hollis insists are filled with lies.
Women post to the site accusing men of everything from serious crimes such as sleeping with young girls to minor annoyances like spending too much time playing video games. A recent post is typical of the kind of trash talking that goes on: "At first, I thought he was my great legionary in shining leather but he turned out to be just a manwhore, sticking his turgid manmeat in any cavernous hole he can find. All he ever does is get drunk and pass out on my stairs." (The site does offer accused men the opportunity to respond to their critics).
Some legal bloggers are debating whether Joseph and her site are protected by the Communications Decency Act, which, according to People, "exempts Web masters from responsibility for displaying others' comments." But there are also some tricky ethical considerations. One blogger called the site "deplorable" and thinks it should be shut down immediately, while other people might argue that it is a great service for women, in the vein of Holla Back NYC.
What do you think?
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