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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.
(Score: 1) by AlphaSnail on Monday August 31 2015, @01:48PM
- 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.