The thin line between defamation and freedom of speech within the media and the difficulties that comes with the anonymity and the indecisive guidelines and rules that comes with a social media account are still up in the air. There seems to be no definitive line, but only a basic, brief understanding of what is happening. There seems to be progress in the United States, and some progress in other countries such as the UK and Iran, but there needs to be a joint call to action including the audience and users of social media and the government. Together, we can all come up with guidelines that can not only protect us users, but also the territorial communities and the government.
Luring people into internet troll traps can often be nasty and hurtful but it is customarily seen as protected expression. Internet users are free to use whatever words and images they choose to get a reaction out of others users, no matter the time or place. The beauty of the internet is that it is mostly anonymous and the users are protected by a screen and at times, many, many miles. Odious and offensive ideas are under constitutional protection, “so debate on public issues can be “uninhibited, robust and wide open” under the First Amendment” (Citron, 2014), but where does the line get drawn between freedom of speech and crime.
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An interesting event that occurred that tests these limits is the alleged murder of Kendra Childs by the father of her baby’s ex-girlfriend. Rachel Herron describes the event that occurred on Twitter as the alleged murderer was purportedly planning the murder of the young woman, Kendra Childs, on the social networking site, Twitter. Childs was killed during a drive-by shooting that took place outside her apartment. She was in her home “when a black Camaro pulled up and began shooting at her walls” (Herron, 2016). When Childs’s boyfriend came home from work, he supposedly found her dead on the floor.
The law is able to track down persons that engage in cyber harassment and cyberstalking, but there is “a point when trolling escalates beyond the offensive and shocking into cyber harassment or cyberstalking” which are actions that are not protected (Citron, 2014).
Bystanders of the incident told police officers that they “saw a Camaro with tinted windows pull up outside of the apartment and fire several shots through the wall” (Herron, 2016). Police believe a man and a woman were inside of the car. After Childs’s death, the hashtag #RipKendra started trending on Twitter. This viral hashtag incited Twitter users to post screenshots from user “Linglingbaby” (@_ladycocaine), the supposed ex-girlfriend of the man Childs had a child with. The tweets read:
"Nothing makes me mad about a b***h saying she was with my n***a or whatever cause like I tell him… the h** won’t be around too long.”
And two months before Child’s death, Linglingbaby tweeted, “My plan is to plot for a year… And I’m gone kill them people. [I don’t give a f**k] if the [police] see this.”
And even further back, in January, she tweeted, “I think I’m really evil enough to eat a [motherf**ker] alive! Like b***h [I don’t give a f**k] about you… I’ll real life kill you and eat you b***h! F**k you.”
The day before the shooting, she wrote, “Praying everything goes good [tomorrow]. But I just know it will” (www.Twitter.com).
Online perpetrators can be criminally prosecuted for “criminal threats,
cyberstalking, cyber harassment, sexual invasions of privacy and bias
intimidation.” They can be sued for “defamation and intentional
infliction of emotional distress.” In a few states, they can also be
held to account for “bias-motivated stalking that interferes with
victims’ important life opportunities, such as employment and education”
(Citron, 2014).
It has been found that mediators, which are usually active on the websites where trolls post comments, can step in to retract “the privilege of anonymity, or even remove abusive speech that violates their community guidelines but when trolling turns into cyber harassment or cyberstalking, the law can and should intervene (Citron, 2014). According to numerous Google searches, Linglingbaby has not been charged with the murder and the police are aware of the multiple suspicious tweets made by the alleged killer. Twitter has not come forward about the incident either, and despite the presence of supposed mediators, Linglingbaby tweets were not removed or investigated when they were posted, which may have saved Childs’ life.
