Stories
Slash Boxes
Comments

SoylentNews is people

posted by martyb on Monday August 31 2015, @09:48AM   Printer-friendly
from the time-to-start-torrenting-on-a-gigabit-connection dept.

PC World reports on the story of an American teenager who has been sentenced to eleven years in jail and who will have his Internet use monitored by the government for the rest of his life.

His crime was to assume that his Constitutionally-protected Freedom of Speech included posting pro-ISIS messages on Twitter and other social media.

"Today's sentencing demonstrates that those who use social media as a tool to provide support and resources to ISIL will be identified and prosecuted with no less vigilance than those who travel to take up arms with ISIL," said U.S. Attorney Dana Boente...

[Ali Shukri Amin] created the Twitter account @AmreekiWitness in 2014, and used it to provide advice and encouragement to ISIS and its supporters, according to court documents. At one point the account had over 4,000 followers. He also helped other ISIS supporters who sought to travel to Syria to join the group, according to the Justice Department.

The question that Soylentils should ask is, "What groups do I belong to that someone in government might decide are 'terrorist', and am I at risk for speaking out?"

The Canadian government for instance has come within a hair of declaring prominent environmental groups to be terrorists.


Original Submission

 
This discussion has been archived. No new comments can be posted.
Display Options Threshold/Breakthrough Mark All as Read Mark All as Unread
The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
  • (Score: 5, Insightful) by bradley13 on Monday August 31 2015, @11:17AM

    by bradley13 (3053) on Monday August 31 2015, @11:17AM (#230099) Homepage Journal

    His activities were a mix. In addition to just generally saying supportive things on Twitter, he also provided actual physical help to at least one person trying to support or join ISIS (he took the guy to the airport), and he apparently provided very specific instructions to people on how to support ISIS financially. So there is actually some basis for a criminal prosecution. That said, two points:

    - Eleven years is a ridiculously harsh sentence. The guy is 17, just finishing high school, and has no criminal record. Locking him up until he is 28 basically destroys the rest of his life: no college, no job skills. If anything, he ought to get a suspended sentence, with a guarantee to wipe it off his record if he behaves for X years. Sentences in the US are generally absurd - this is a prime example.

    - The government prosecutors are flooding the press with this case, and deliberately hyping his use of social media. This appears to be a deliberate effort to discourage speech the government doesn't like. So, while the case may not be a first amendment issue itself, the government is deliberately abusing it to discourage free speech.

    --
    Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
    Starting Score:    1  point
    Moderation   +3  
       Insightful=3, Total=3
    Extra 'Insightful' Modifier   0  
    Karma-Bonus Modifier   +1  

    Total Score:   5  
  • (Score: 1) by AlphaSnail on Monday August 31 2015, @01:48PM

    by AlphaSnail (5814) on Monday August 31 2015, @01:48PM (#230149)

    - I'd imagine part of the thinking of an 11 year sentence is he will have no means to continue communicating with any other ISIL supporters at least not with any useful information for what could be the duration of the fighting. In war people are shot and bombed to protect the military forces, he got off lucky.

      - The government are asshats with their own agenda. That said if one other young muslim thinking how simple it would be to support the 'cause' through the internet while trying to garner sympathy and support sees how it isn't that simple and freedom of speech still exposes you to your 'enemy' as well then many will not stick their necks out. In this case for everyone's sake that seems like a good thing to me, telling you what I think about someone is one thing, telling you how you can more effectively evade and kill someone, knowing the listener is going to act on it is hardly just conversation, you are a conspirator at that point. Show me them arresting bloggers whom haven't given support or information just sympathetic postings of events around ISIL and I will believe they are curbing free speech.

  • (Score: 2) by Anal Pumpernickel on Monday August 31 2015, @06:51PM

    by Anal Pumpernickel (776) on Monday August 31 2015, @06:51PM (#230362)

    he also provided actual physical help to at least one person trying to support or join ISIS (he took the guy to the airport)

    This is not speech, but he still took no directly harmful actions himself.

    and he apparently provided very specific instructions to people on how to support ISIS financially.

    This is mere speech and therefore irrelevant.

  • (Score: 2) by albert on Monday August 31 2015, @08:25PM

    by albert (276) on Monday August 31 2015, @08:25PM (#230430)

    Eleven years is a ridiculously harsh sentence. The guy is 17, just finishing high school, and has no criminal record. Locking him up until he is 28 basically destroys the rest of his life: no college, no job skills. If anything, he ought to get a suspended sentence, with a guarantee to wipe it off his record if he behaves for X years. Sentences in the US are generally absurd - this is a prime example.

    The dude is a fan of Daesh. We should punish him in a way that he agrees with, no? Let's see, the options include...

    * burning in a cage
    * drowning in a cage
    * tossing off a tall building
    * stoning
    * crucifiction
    * head sliced off (the mildest option)
    * RPG while restrained in a car

    I'm all for respecting his values. Let's do it!

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 01 2015, @01:15AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 01 2015, @01:15AM (#230574)

    > (he took the guy to the airport),

    Even that isn't clear. The reporting has been that he was one of three people -- the the guy flying out and another guy who has not been charged with anything -- who "drove with him to the airport." I haven't been able to find reporting from a trustworthy source that says this kid did the driving or that was even his car.