The Supreme Court is considering a case (#Elonis v. US) about the free-speech rights of people who use violent or threatening language on #Facebook and other social media. It concerns a man who was sent to prison for posting violent #rap lyrics on Facebook about killing his estranged wife, shooting up a kindergarten class and attacking an #FBI agent. A jury convicted him of making threats against another person: a felony. Free-speech advocates say comments on Facebook, #Twitter and other social media can be hasty, impulsive and easily misinterpreted. Duh? That would make it different from comments made in writing or vocally which are always well thought out, never impulsive or misinterpreted. The defendant says that his remarks were simply a crude and spontaneous form of expression that he didn’t mean. I guess when someone says they want to kill you, you must ask, “Do you really mean it?” Apparently, there is no truth to the rumor that the Supreme Court may rule that anyone posting a threat in social media must follow it with a disclaimer. The disclaimer might read, “The comments I posted above are for entertainment only and not to be construed as a threat of any sort. They are a crude and spontaneous form of free-speech. They do not represent my true opinions of bitches and assholes. Any similarity between the SOBs, jerks and bitches in my comments and real people is purely coincidental.”
| Monte R Anderson - Author |
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