by ED SZTUKOWSKI
News Editor

I love the Internet.

I love how the ability to post anonymously exists, even though I tend to avoid doing so myself.

For me, the Internet can be an irritating place, but it is an irritating place I have grown accustomed to. Letting people talk trash anonymously about one another’s mothers and sexual orientation is just another part of the culture.

I would be bothered if anyone wished to take away the freedom to be an idiot, but sometimes anonymous comments can cross the line.

Austin Police Chief Art Acevedo said commenters who lie and make allegations in online blogs and readers’ sections could face criminal charges. Acevedo has said many commenters have made lewd remarks, often of an illegal and sexual nature, about the police department.

“A lot of my people feel it is time to take these people on,” Acevedo said to the American-Statesman. “They understand the damage to the organization, and quite frankly, when people are willfully misleading and lying, they are pretty much cowards anyway because they are doing so under the cloak of anonymity.”

Acevedo alleges the false comments are equal to libel, but libel can be a difficult thing to prove. In order to charge any blogger with libel, Acevedo would have to prove his reputation, or the police department’s reputation, was damaged by the comment.

The Austin Police Department is fighting a fight which I believe cannot be won. By going after anonymous bloggers who post lewd comments you are going after a good portion of the Internet.

You would need to bring in the National Guard to fight that swarm.

I have a few problems with this plan, mostly based on the execution.

Acevedo said investigators may seek search warrants to find the identity of commenters, but I question the need to do so.

Instead of going after commenters, wouldn’t it be easier, less time consuming and less expensive simply to remove the comments?

Going after commenters won’t stop the trash talking from pouring in. In fact, the way the Internet is, there would likely be a backlash and even more comments would flood in about the police department.

Most Web sites enforce their comments section strictly, and at The Appalachian, they are reviewed to see if comments attack the idea or the person.

Acevedo would be more successful contacting the publishers of the remarks to have them removed; any other option would likely lead to more headache.

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