A few people have complained that by trying to eliminate bad online behavior the News is squashing First Amendment free speech rights, but Peskin says the complaints were fewer than he'd expected. The types of messages that the Web site staff removes from the forums are those that threaten other people, slander or libel them, or otherwise break the law. Peskin says this has become a fairly time-consuming task for those employees. The forums typically generate 600-700 messages a day, but that can increase to a couple thousand or more depending on news events. After a Dallas Cowboys football game, the Cowboys forum often attracts 2,000 or so participants.
Some forums are more troublesome than others.
The Cowboys forum sometimes attracts inappropriate postings, and the religion forum has had problems with messages promoting gay-bashing. A forum devoted to a school controversy in which various ethnic groups have been vying for control over the district has seen its share of racist and sexist rhetoric. Like most online forums, a good degree of self-policing by participants takes place, where forum members chastise those who violate the rules. But that's often not enough. Peskin remains committed to maintaining the online forums, which are designed to attract a broad cross-section of the public.