About a week after Tara Elonis persuaded a judge to issue a protective order against her estranged husband, Anthony, her soon-to-be ex had this to say:
“Fold up your PFA [protection-from-abuse order] and put it in your pocket
Is it thick enough to stop a bullet?”
Anthony Elonis didn’t deliver the message in person, by phone or in a note. Instead, he posted it on his Facebook page, for all to see, in a prose style reminiscent of the violent, misogynistic lyrics of rap artists he admired.
In its first examination of the limits of free speech on social media, the Supreme Court will consider next week whether, as a jury concluded, Elonis’s postings constituted a “true threat” to his wife and others.
You cannot threaten someone in person.
You cannot threaten someone on the phone.
You cannot threaten someone by mail.
You cannot threaten someone by telegram (that was the original email for those not of a certain age).
Why would anyone believe that you can threaten someone on the internet and assume you will get a pass?
I agree, Ad Orientem, but apparently the Supreme Court thinks enough people are confused. Or, perhaps, they are.