Michigan State University: Reported Investigation Into Identity of Anonymous Internet Commenters
Cases
Michigan State University
Case Overview
FIRE Victory closed
In February 2020, Michigan State University鈥檚 president participated in an online question-and-answer session facilitated by the student government. After several anonymous commenters made remarks viewers interpreted as racially offensive, media reports indicated that the university鈥檚 police department was, at the request of the student government, seeking to identify the anonymous users. FIREwrote to the police department asking for clarification and explaining that the First Amendment protects anonymous speech. MSU鈥檚 police department confirmed that it had not requested identifying information and would not do so, mitigating any chilling effect resulting from the media reports.