Stanford CIS

Yik Yak gets criticized amid murder case, but it doesn't have to change

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"Danielle Citron, author of the book Hate Crimes in Cyberspace, told Mashable that Yik Yak critics do have a lot to be angry about.

"What troubles me about Yik Yak is they start their anonymous app not with a set of rules or community guidelines, they just roll it out," Citron said. "It's only after it's become a festering sore of destructive speech, it's now that they step in and that they're worried."

For her part, Citron hopes society evolves to become more socially conscious. Just as work places are slowly opening their eyes to how common sexism is, she hopes Internet users will eventually build a space where kinder speech wins out.

Citron added, "I'm hoping, as a society we say...what's your problem?""

Published in: Press , cyber-bullying , Privacy