I think it is a fine strategy. WW.com does much the same thing, has been doing that for years and we think it is one of our better gimmicks, to get our 'abusers' to fund the site for your 'users'.
It functions as an escape valve for an element that you will attract anyway, no matter how much work you put into keeping things clean.
Your observation about the news is spot on, we once had a guy hang himself on camera before we caught on to what was happening, lots of bad press, angry letters from users and so on, within 5 days of the event things were back to normal. Still one of the most shocking experiences in my career.
It functions as an escape valve for an element that you will attract anyway, no matter how much work you put into keeping things clean.
Your observation about the news is spot on, we once had a guy hang himself on camera before we caught on to what was happening, lots of bad press, angry letters from users and so on, within 5 days of the event things were back to normal. Still one of the most shocking experiences in my career.