Screen Shot 2016-08-23 at 10.52.40 AM.png

( )

Toxic comments: The past few weeks have been full of devastating news, from the death of a teenage pedestrian to drownings of two people, a young man and a child. Sadness and empathy are often emotions people feel when confronted with news like this, but for the commenters on OregonLive, no topic is safe from political bickering and victim blaming. On both articles regarding the recent avoidable deaths of children in our city, commenters praised "natural selection". A temporary closure of a park to install new signage was hailed as evidence of a "nanny state" and derided because if people "are too stupid to know a large river is dangerous to swim in then they are too stupid to read a sign."

These comments are not only disgusting, they are not representative of the wonderful people of Oregon and Portland. OregonLive hosts one of the most toxic comment sections of any major news organization; it's beyond time to remove it. Many major websites have recently removed their comment sections, including NPR, USA Today, Reuters, The Chicago Sun-Times, and more. OregonLive should follow suit.

The First Amendment protects your right to freely speak without government prosecution. But The Oregonian is not a government, and has no obligation to host such vile material on their website. The comment section should be permanently disabled. If readers want to respond with hatred, they can do so on Facebook, with their real name attached.

Adam Ward

Southeast Portland