Lashon Hara Just a Click Away 17

Inhibiting guilt, shame, or anxiety may be features of the in­person self but not the online self. This constellations model also helps explain other online phenomena, like identity experimentation, role-playing fantasy games, multitasking project, and other subtle shifts in personality expression as we move from one online environment to another."

If this is the case for one’s self and its boundaries, does it not have significant implications for behavior related to /ashon hara and rechilut? If 1 hide behind a wall of perceived anonymity, I can believe I’m not responsible for what 1 disseminate, however fictitious and malicious. The speed and immediacy of the Internet are augmented by the perceived anonymity of cyberspace.“I just forwarded what I received,”“I thought it was interesting,” and“I'm just passing it along” are oft-heard explanations for engaging in cyber-assisted lashon hara and rechilut.

Formulating a Halakhic Response to Lashon Hara on the Internet

Torah enjoins us lo teilekh rakhil b’amekha,Do not go about tale­bearing among your people”(Leviticus 19:16)."” Our Rabbis understood this prohibition in conjunction with lo tonu ish et amito v'yareita mei'elohekha ki ani adonai eloheikhem, Do not wrong one another, but fear your God , for I, the Lord,'am your God ”(Leviticus 25:17) to establish a broad ban on talking about other people, whether what is said is true or false, malicious or benign, injurious or innocuous. The Rabbis understand Miriam’s affliction with tzara’at in the Wilderness to be a consequence of lashon hara when she speaks about Tzipora.. Arakhin 15b tells us:

Tzara'at was a“miraculous” disease that occurred when the Bet ha-Mikdash was still standing. If a person spoke evil about someone else, first his home was affected. If he did not repent, his clothes were affected. If he still did not repent, his body was ultimately affected. He had to separate from