After Yahoo! removed violent comments
against Adam Lambert, an anti-gay group has warned against deleting
all homophobic speech.
Yahoo! last week removed the comments
against Lambert posted in response to an interview with the openly
gay singer. The web portal said the comments violated its Terms of
Service.
One commenter wrote, “It would make
my day if someone was to do to [Lambert] what those men did to
Matthew Shepard,” in reference to the 21-year-old University of
Wyoming student who was brutally beaten and left for dead near
Laramie, Wyoming in 1998.
Media advocacy and anti-defamation
group the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) on
Thursday issued a statement commending Yahoo! for acting quickly.
“Young music fans should be able to
interact and comment on sites without seeing violent, hateful
comments directed at LGBT people,” said Allison Palmer, director of
digital initiatives at GLAAD.
Tim Graham, director of media analysis
for the Media Research Center (MRC), criticized the move.
“There is nothing wrong with taking
down comments wishing violence on gay people. Censor away,” Graham
wrote in a Newsbusters.org
post. “But would GLAAD also like to take down comments suggesting
homosexuality is wrong? Anyone who follows them would strongly
suspect that when companies like Yahoo! bow to GLAAD pressure, it's
not just about eliminating violent comments, but all 'anti-LGBT
comments.'”
“Could one suggest song titles like
Naked Love are too risque for kids? This might even include
comments suggesting a performer like Lambert is a screechy,
egotistical hack – in other words, the kind of commentary Simon
Cowell gets for canning Paula Abdul.”