The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case involving a man who threatened his ex-wife through Facebook posts. The case, "Elonis v. United States," may serve as precedent for future cases about freedom of speech on social networks.
In 2010, Anthony Elonis from Pennsylvania was accused by his ex-wife after getting violent threats following their separation.
One of the posts by Elonis reads, "There's one way to love you but a thousand ways to kill you. I'm not going to rest until your body is a mess, soaked in blood and drying from all the little cuts."
The post eventually made his ex-wife feel fearful for her life that she sought a restraining order against her estranged husband. Elonis reacted to it by making another post which says, "Fold up your PFA (protection from abuse order) and put it in your pocket. Is it thick enough to stop a bullet?"
Other disturbing threats talked about hurting the state police, staging a school shooting, and killing a female FBI agent. "I've got enough explosives to take care of the state police and the sheriff's department." "Pull my knife, flick my wrist, and slit her throat, leave her bleedin' from her jugular in the arms of her partner."
The Supreme Court had ruled before that 'true threats' which are intended to inflict harm on a person are not protected under the First Amendment. The new session will make the Supreme Court decide if the Facebook threats posted by Elonis are indeed protected.
The decision will become a turning point on the issues of limiting free speech in the digital world and the real essence of a true threat.
Advocates of the First Amendment believe that comments made on social media such as Facebook and Twitter are usually misinterpreted and should be deemed as something that is concocted as a spur of the moment.
On the other hand, the National Center for Victims of Crime supported the government's decision to convict Elonis. "Victims of stalking are financially, emotionally and socially burdened by the crime regardless of the subjective intent of the speaker," said the supporters.
Anthony Elonis is currently serving his prison term after being convicted in the federal district court. He was accused with five counts of expressing "any threat to injure the person of another" through the Internet.
