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Hindu Students' Message Board Shut Down

An Internet message board run by a chapter of the Hindu Students Council at the University of California at Irvine (UCI) has been suspended by the company that hosted the site.

The message board, which was a popular venue for discussion of issues pertaining to Hinduism, featured a number of racist and profane statements. Soon after it was featured in an earlier rediff.com article, a page appeared in its place.

"The message board you are trying to access has been suspended," reads the statement, posted by Boardhost, a company which provides space for online discussions. "Accounts are suspended when content is found that violates our terms of service."

The terms of service prohibit "hatred, harassment" and "any content deemed offensive by Boardhost."

Shveta Tiwari, a regional coordinator for the Hindu Students Council based in the Washington DC area, isn't surprised that the message board was shut down.

"In any debate forum, there are certain rules of conduct participants must obey," said Tiwari, who has helped form several HSC chapters, "and unfortunately, in the case of UCI, this code was violated for the sake of hostility, deep-seated hate, and threats. The Boardhost was more than justified in shutting down the message board."

For a website such as Boardhost, decency standards are largely motivated by commercial considerations. The site earns most of its revenue from banner ads placed by large corporations such as Visa and Discover credit cards, Coppertone sunscreen and others.

As advertisers continue to reduce their spending online, Boardhost and related services have begun to ensure that the pages they host do not conflict with their marketing needs.

According to Tiwari the more provocative comments were never the primary function of the forum so much as an outgrowth of the more academically-inclined statements.

"Colleges and universities are typically hotbeds of debate, which is welcomed, but when these ideas take the form of childlike insults and even threats, then it is time to step in," she said.

"As an organization, HSC does not support the comments that were posted on the message board. We support the right of people to express their opinions, while maintaining civil conduct and mutual respect, both of which were grossly lacking in the UCI case. In the future, we hope to channel people who make these acerbic comments to other (non-HSC) message boards."

Chandan Bandopadhyay, HSC's national coordinator for chapter activities, agreed, saying that the organization was slow to take action when it came to know of the offensive statements. He noted that the organization has a history of engaging in inter-religious dialogue and that some of the statements, which attacked Muslims, had no place in the organization's agenda.

"We should completely get rid of that," he said from Boston.

Tiwari pointed to a service project she was involved with at the University of Virginia, which the HSC chapter and Muslim Student Association jointly coordinated. The groups termed the enterprise "the peanut butter and jelly project."

"The humor behind the choice of project was intentional," said Tiwari. "Both groups agreed that peanut butter and jelly was symbolic of the 'apparent' differences between Muslims and Hindus in America. By bringing both tastes together, and working side by side with a Muslims, we showed that service to humanity superseded conflict generated in our respective homelands (Pakistan and India) in years past."

In the future, Tiwari feels, the group will need to consider having a moderator for its message board. "Not for the purpose of censoring disagreeable and vitriolic ideas," she said, "but rather, to encourage an intellectual discussion amongst learned youth.

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