With more than 48 million active users, the rapid growth of the content available on the… With more than 48 million active users, the rapid growth of the content available on the popular networking website Facebook.com was inevitable.

After all, users are able to create groups related to any subject they desire. But combined with the site’s extreme popularity, this feature has caused new problems for Facebook and its users.

With the freedom to post just about anything, many groups have been created with material offensive to specific individuals and groups of individuals. Blacks, Hispanics and gays are just a few of the groups being targeted.

Public figures, celebrities and even individual users have had groups formed in opposition to them by fellow users.

One such group focuses on a particular Pitt alumna and has fifteen members – all of whom are part of the group because, presumably, they share a mutual dislike of the group’s subject. Along with an unflattering photo of this former student, the group features discussion boards that post sightings of her on campus and warnings such as, “Ladies, hide your boyfriends!”

A member of another group based on the shared hatred of a specific student said she doesn’t take her membership in the group very seriously.

“Even though I belong to this kind of mean group about hating him, I wouldn’t do anything about it. I just think he sucks and it’s funny,” the user, who chose to remain anonymous, explained.

Belonging to one of Facebook’s more than six million groups is popular and widespread, but Facebook refused to comment on the existence of hate groups and its own policy regarding them, stating in an e-mail that, “Unfortunately, we can not provide this information regarding our users.”

According to Facebook’s terms of use contract, which every user agrees to by creating and operating his own account, the website is not responsible for the content of its users.

The terms of use state that Facebook “believes users should be able to express themselves and their point of view,” but it also believes that certain kinds of speech do not belong in the community of Facebook.

Facebook maintains that content of a malicious, derogatory, demeaning or defamatory nature is not allowed.

The site does have the ability to monitor the activity of its users, but it relies mostly on reports from users to keep tabs on content. If a user wishes to report a certain offensive group or any other offensive material, he can report it to Facebook at any time.

A user can anonymously report an offensive group by clicking on the “Report Group” link on the group page. Users must specify the offensive content, and Facebook administrators will review the complaint and the submission to judge whether or not it conflicts with the site’s terms of use.

A group can be shut down by Facebook or requested to be shut down immediately. Facebook said it has shut down entire accounts and removed content in the past and will continue to do so to ensure the safety of all users.

“I think some groups are inappropriate but it’s not something that keeps me up at night,” Pitt sophomore Teena Santos said.

She added that, as a Facebook user, she does not feel affected by offensive material and does not see herself reporting an offensive group in the future.

“I understand it is freedom of speech, but at the same time I do not support what is being said in these groups,” she said.

However, those who have been the subject of offensive posted material can take action beyond just reporting it to Facebook.

According to Pitt Law professor Kevin Ashley, if a user on Facebook is making false statements that are defamatory towards someone’s reputation, the person being defamed can sue.

It’s the individual users who are in legal danger when they post defamatory material, not Facebook, Ashley added.

“Facebook itself is not responsible for user content under federal law, but this does not protect uploads by users,” Ashley said.

Ashley also said that it might be difficult to find the people or users involved in the defamation to be prosecuted in certain instances. “Another more common option is to settle the problem through Facebook as opposed to a legal procedure,” he said.