Attorney General Bruning today joined attorneys general from 33 other states and territories in reaching an agreement with Internet message board host Topix.com to improve consumer protections and eliminate the $19.99 fee to expedite review of abusive or inappropriate posts.
The agreement is the result of an initiative led by Bruning with attorneys general from Kentucky and Connecticut.
“I am pleased that we’ve reached an agreement to put a stop to the ‘pay-to-police’ policy,” Attorney General Bruning said. “We will continue to work with the site to ensure Nebraskans, particularly kids, are not being harmed by harassing and abusive messages posted there.”
State investigations and consumer complaints regarding the website revealed numerous abusive and derogatory personal postings, often involving minors, which clearly violated the site’s terms of service. Furthermore, the system for reporting abusive posts required consumer payment of $19.99 for priority review. The investigations also showed that the site failed to remove clearly abusive posts that violated its terms of service in a timely way unless consumers paid the priority review charge.
As part of the settlement, Topix will review all reports of abuse free of charge. The company will also seek to review and remove inappropriate posts within three working days rather than its previous policy of seven to 14 days. Additionally, the site has removed the ineffective flagging option for reporting abusive posts. The option was confusing for consumers as it required multiple users to flag a post before it was reviewed. As a result, many inappropriate posts were reported but never reviewed.
The site also agreed to make technical and human resources improvements in order to better review and block inappropriate posts.
Topix has also agreed to:
Continue cooperating with law enforcement agencies in combating unlawful activity on its website.
Consult on an as-needed basis with the attorneys general to discuss issues of concern, including responsiveness to abuse reports and other consumer complaints.
Continue to explore new technology and processes for preventing misuse of its site.
The attorneys general from the following 33 states and territories have joined Nebraska in the initiative to address consumer protection concerns with Topix: Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Guam, Hawaii, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Mississippi, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Northern Mariana Islands, Ohio, Oklahoma, Puerto Rico, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia.
