What you post
online remains online? Occasionally, these posts transcend the thinly veiled
line of bad humor into the threats Americans fear most; shootings in school and
terror attacks. Catching the attention
of the law, these words haunt their teenage authors in dark and lonely prison
cells where they wait out their sentences.
In India, the
line is crossed when politicians feel defamed or religious communities have
their sensitivities offended. Posts that criticize politicians never fail to
instigate mobs of vigilante party workers.
Two girls who wrote and liked a banal post attracted the wrath of
overzealous party men and police officers who quickly filed criminal charges.
Petitions, media outrage and an alert Indian judiciary fuelled quick justice in
a country where cases can languish for years, making the girls instant
celebrities of free speech.
As I read the
passionate appeal of an American father whose son lies imprisoned for posting a
threat to shoot kids at his school, it struck me how difficult it was to
accurately preempt a crime from an interpretation of an online comment. The
parents and boy argue that the comment was innocent and nothing more than a
trashy rap line written in haste after a tiff with another online video gamer.
The law thought otherwise.
Threats of
death or harm from cyber trolls and cyber bullies are more common. Coming
from strangers and friends alike, these comments create feelings of anxiety,
depression, and isolation among teens.
Drawing the
line on gross misdemeanors on social networks requires a tolerant and
compassionate judiciary, police, parents and teachers. Institutions that must
balance soft alternatives such as awareness, education, warnings and community
service with the stricter punishment of jail sentences.
Milder posts,
which do not attract much attention, may however haunt children when they apply
to schools or for a job or even in their relationship with teachers. In a
recent survey, 53%of teens reported posting something online which they
subsequently deleted for being mean or disclosing personal information about
themselves.
photo credit: .m for matthijs via photopin cc
No comments:
Post a Comment