Reddit regrets role in 'online witch hunt' for misidentified suspect

[Eugene]

Source: CNET

Reddit regrets role in 'online witch hunt' for misidentified suspect

by Jennifer Van Grove April 22, 2013 11:41 AM PDT

Reddit General Manager Erik Martin used the company's blog to publicly apologize for the site's role in fueling an "online witch hunt" for Sunil Tripathi, a missing Brown University student falsely identified as a possible suspect in the Boston Marathon bombing.

"The Reddit staff and the millions of people on Reddit around the world deeply regret that this happened," Martin said. "We have apologized privately to the family of missing college student Sunil Tripathi, as have various users and moderators. We want to take this opportunity to apologize publicly for the pain they have had to endure."

Last week, prior to the FBI naming Dzhokhar and Tamerlan Tsarnaev as the primary suspects in the bombing, members of the link-sharing site set out to crowdsource the identities of the people behind the attack. Their vigilante efforts turned counterproductive when Tripathi's name was picked up by those monitoring police scanners. The site helped spread the misinformation, and became "one of the more ugly and disgusting places that had a lot of traffic," Tripathi's sister told ABC News.

In his post, Martin wrote that Reddit enacted a no-personal-information policy a few years back to avoid this very situation.

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Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-57580778-93/reddit-regrets-role-in-online-witch-hunt-for-misidentified-suspect/

[rdharma]

1. They'll regret it more when they settle $$$$$$$$ in court! nt

[Hekate]

2. 21st century vigilantism and mob mentality are no prettier than they ever were

This is why we have a system of laws; this is why it is ever-more-important that we adhere to them.

[justice1]

3. As opposed to the tin foil hats that are worn at DU?