Is participating on a Teacher rating site a violation of Lashon Hara?

Question

There are websites out there (e.g. RateMyProfessors) where students can post information about teachers they had.

Is reading the "reviews" on the site, or writing such a "review", a violation of Lashon Hara?

@HachamGabriel, it seems possible to me that reviews of people (e.g. teachers) are more restricted than reviews of businesses/organizations/schools/etc (e.g. restaurants, car dealerships, universities). — Monica Cellio, Jan 19 '12 at 00:40
@HachamGabriel No, you were correct, reviews of "groups" of people, is the same as reviews of an individual person. A Company is the same as it's owner. — avi, Jan 19 '12 at 07:06

score 1 · Answer 1 · answered Apr 06 '12 at 16:57

Assuming the review is accurate and constructive, it would be 'l'toeles' - for a constructive purpose - even if negative. An analogous case would be informing someone that the person they're doing business with has a history of dishonesty. That being said the Chafetz Chaim has a great deal on how to go about Lashon Hara l'toeles. The best summary I found is this hebrew page. You can also find the actual sefer here. Klal Yud deals with this topic. It's very complex and the CC goes into deep detail, so I suggest studying it inside.

As for reading the reviews that would likely fall into the category of 'public information' and be permissible. (Note that you still are required to try and maintain objectivity and be 'dan l'kaf zechus' with such information)

Also from a technical perspective the CC admits that the basis for biblical prohibitions vs. Lashon Hara are almost entirely directed at Jews, but discourages L'H against Non-Jews since it's an objective evil that should be avoided regardless.

score 0 · Answer 2 · answered Jan 19 '12 at 07:09

0

I will cite the source later... Gd willing.

Statements which are told to people to prevent them from being harmed, do not fall under the category of Lashon Harah.

Sites such as RateMyProfessors, are a classic example of when it's ok to say negetive things about another person.

Reading the reviews on a particular professor however, is only allowed by people who attend the Universities where those professors teach, or knowing somebody who does. Doing otherwise is lashon Harah.

answered Jan 19 '12 at 07:09

avi

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Another exception to lashon harah that applies here is "public knowledge". If three or more students already know this negative fact, publicizing it is not a violation of lashon harah. While I agree that it's not good middos (character) for someone to read through bad professor reviews just for kicks, I don't think that doing so is itself a violation of lashon harah. By that definition, no one could ever read any news publication without violation lashon harah. – Jan 19 '12 at 07:40
@Will Reading news publications does run that problem. But thank you, I'll address those later when I have time to get the sources. – avi Jan 19 '12 at 08:10
@Will You would have to be certain it is already publicised and know to all
"כבר נתפרסם הדבר ונודע לכל"

חפץ חיים ב:ד
– Michael Sandler Jan 19 '12 at 08:20
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Sorry - not just that three or more students already know - but that the information was relayed in a "public" forum - i.e. a forum of more than three people. I think that a "rate your professor" website qualifies. – Jan 19 '12 at 13:05
So does going on a rooftop and announcing something with a loudspeaker.. doesn't stop it from being lashon harah. The fact that it's on the website does not make it known. What makes it "known" is how the information is originally learned. Someone telling a newspaper that the professor flunked him because his feet smell, is lashon harah. Repeating the fact of the professor announcing a policy that he will flunk anyone who's feet smell is not. – avi Jan 19 '12 at 13:13
avi, Aren't there other conditions that apply when justifying lashon hara' for a purpose, e.g. the poster's state of mind? – Isaac Moses Jan 19 '12 at 15:13
IIRC the Chofetz Chayim says that even if the information is true and would prevent someone from suffering a loss, the publication must also be the least-damaging way to bring about that outcome. So, for example (this is me talking), if the university internally publishes its own ratings, perhaps that means you must use those in preference to something on the Internet. – Monica Cellio Jan 19 '12 at 15:36
@IsaacMoses I'm not sure why the state of mind of the person applies. If they are lying, it's no longer in the category of Lashon Harah, but a whole other ball of wax. But that's why I hope to post the sources later. – avi Jan 19 '12 at 16:10
@avi I don't have a Chofetz Chaim handy, but I'm pretty sure that he has a checklist of conditions that must be met before you can say something negative, even if it's for a purpose. When you check your source, you may run into these. If so, please consider including them in your answer. – Isaac Moses Jan 19 '12 at 16:12
@IsaacMoses will do. However that is for saying something, not for reading something. I thought you mean the poster's state of mind is important when reading lashon harah. – avi Jan 19 '12 at 16:30
AFAIR just because information is public doesn't mean one can tell it to someone who doesn't know. – ertert3terte Jan 19 '12 at 16:31

Is participating on a Teacher rating site a violation of Lashon Hara?

2 Answers2