While the Constitution states that American citizens have the right to speak freely, it does not mean that one should abuse this freedom to hurt and abuse others on social networks such as Facebook. This is also known as cyber bullying where people utilize the First Amendment to defend their actions even if they are blatantly threatening another person’s life by posting horrible comments on their Facebook posts. The question then becomes if those taking part in cyber bullying should be prosecuted by the law or at least punished by those in charge of the socializing network because while they are not inflicting physical harm to their victims, they are inflicting emotional as well as mental harm which can be even more devastating and have longer lasting effects to the person’s health and psyche. This paper will briefly examine the effects such misuse of the First Amendment can cause and whether or not this should be allowed on sites like Facebook.
A good example of this ongoing debate about whether those who bully and threaten others over the internet should be taken seriously and thus prosecuted would be the case of Elonis v. United States where Anthony Elonis repeatedly threatened his wife on Facebook after she took their kids with her when she left him: “‘I’m not gonna rest until your body is a mess, soaked in blood and dying from all the little cuts.’” (ABA 2015). This seems a bit strong, not to mention violent, for just being an exercise of his First Amendment rights as Elonis claimed it was (ABA 2015) since it is clearly a vivid description of his wife’s murder body and should thus be taken extremely seriously even though some would argue that the fact he put this on a public site where others can read it instead of texting her means it is just a joke and that Elonis did not mean it. If this was a joke then it was a sick one demonstrating how there is such a thing as misuse of one’s freedom of speech.
Evidently the law felt the same as Elonis was charged of a federal offense and sent to live in prison for the next three years or more (ABA 2015). Not surprisingly, Elonis fought against the charge he was given with his main argument being he had only been exercising his First Amendment rights (ABA 2015). According to an ABA panelist, “if the Supreme Court overturns Elonis’ conviction, it would invalidate a majority of stalking statutes in the United States” (ABA 2015). In other words if the Supreme Court allowed Elonis to get away with repeatedly threatening his wife over the internet to the point where she was probably considering getting a restraining order, then they would be opening up the door for others who bully people on social media sites like Facebook who utilize their anonymity to attack and stalk while clinging to the First Amendment as if it was a lifeline.
The ABA panelist would go on to argue how even if the threat was not serious they still harm the target for it disrupts their lives and deprives them of their basic freedom to protect themselves as well as be a part of social networks without the fear of being bullied (ABA 2015). No one should have to be afraid to be on a site designed to help them stay connected to friends as well as to see what their favorite celebrities or stories are up to nor should people who go out of their way to viciously bully them be allowed to hide behind the First Amendment which they are clearly abusing. After all, it is highly doubtful that the founding fathers who had created this country to get away from the tyranny of Great Britain would want their citizens to utilize their rights to oppress others anonymously over the internet just because they deem they can.
Work Cited
"Free Speech and Social Media: Where to Draw the Line." YOUR ABA. American Bar Association, Mar. 2015. Web. 08 Sept. 2016.
