Tweeting Into Lawsuits

You can find just about anything on the internet if you look hard enough; blogs harshly criticizing celebrities, politicians’ dirty laundry being aired to the world, teenagers tweeting about fellow students they despise, or even incriminating photos of your next door neighbor. Because of these circumstances, laws rush to catch up to the continually evolving specimen that is technology. Many often regard the internet as one of the last places where true free speech exists, which raises the question: are laws and courts stifling basic rights or protecting them?

Most recently, the social network Twitter has been under scrutiny. After having a heated disagreement with a fashion designer, singer Courtney Love tweeted derogatory comments, going as far as saying the designer had a “history of dealing cocaine.” The designer, Dawn Simorangkir, is now suing Love for libel. This case calls in to question fundamental beliefs about free speech online; is the internet an exception, or like any other aspect of life when it comes legality of speech?

This is not an issue unique to Twitter, in fact many social networking sites are seeing their content come into question. Last year in August, a woman by the name of Liskula Cohen sued Google over content posted about her on its site Blogger.com. The courts sided with Cohen, and Google was asked to reveal the identity of an anonymous blogger who posted defamatory comments about Cohen, so that she could seek legal action. This case was a defining moment in internet rights, and showed that courts would not tolerate internet users hiding behind anonymity to abuse others.

When one looks to the laws for guidance on the matter, more questions often arise than answers. This is because laws are often behind the continually innovative technology. You won’t find many laws that mention Twitter or any sort of social networking, yet both of those are two of the main mediums for modern communication and different than other traditional methods. Clearly, we need new laws; however, more often old laws are being forced to fit new circumstances and they fit unsuccessfully.

Even outside of legal ramifications, students and young adults are finding that their once funny Facebook photos are now preventing them from getting jobs. Stacy Snyder was denied her teaching license because of photos of her drinking on MySpace, and activity perfectly legal at her age, twenty seven. Her college claimed that she was promoting underage drinking and refused to grant her the degree.

It seems colleges have become very interested in the online activities of their students. Such is the case with Michael Guinn, who was expelled from his religious college because of material they deemed offensive on his Facebook. Colleges clearly take online profiles seriously, as this is not an uncommon occurrence. Colleges have gone as far as buying software such as YouDillegence. This program searches through students online profiles for words that relate to things such as drugs, sexual activities, weapons, violence and drinking. When objectionable material is found, the program sends an email to the designated school official. Even profiles that are set to private viewing settings can be accessed by the program. Some students are outraged by the program and claim the school violates their privacy by using YouDillegence. Others claim the program protects the school and the students within the school.

The issue of privacy and free speech on the internet becomes multidimensional and increasingly complex as technology advances. While most agree that some sort of standard of conduct must be established on the internet, what that standard should be is hardly unanimous. One should expect to see more court cases, more legal debates and eventually, clearer laws on the matter in the years to come as the internet is integrated into modern laws.

Sources

USA Today
ABC News
Kansas University Sentinel
You Diligence
CNN