Watch Your Words! It is 2016 and haters on Facebook or Twitter can easily get a restraining order pinned on them. They could even end up in jail for up to a year. Governments all over the United States are taking Facebook communication as e-mail.
Facebook and Twitter Are More Influential Than We Think
Social media is a powerful tool for many things. It recently showcased its power against Maria Gonzales, who now faces jail time for harassing her ex-sister in law on Facebook. It might be a bit of a stretch to call it harassment since all she did was post some vaguely threatening posts on the platform. What made it harassment was the fact that Maria actually tagged her sister in law in the posts.
In one of the posts, Maria Gonzales called her ex-sister in law ‘stupid’, and in another, she made an offhand comment about her family being ‘sad’. Naturally, the ex-sister in law was notified of these posts, which prompted her to file for a restraining order.
This isn’t the smartest move to make. Impulse can take a big part of why people post hate publicly on the internet. In this instance, tagging the object of your hate is probably the most dangerous thing to do. Many people think that Facebook or Twitter accounts can make them anonymous, but it’s quite the opposite.
Facebook and Twitter Can Get You a Restraining Order, Even Put You in Jail
A restraining order means that a person must refrain from any contact with another person, either by mail, phone, email, voicemail or other electronic or any means. Cases from as far back as 2014 have treated Facebook as a valid email communication, so it’s no surprise Gonzales is facing this level of trouble.
Online harassment became a hot topic on the internet. It spurred a new kind of bullying, cyberbullying, which affects people around the globe. Cyberbullying has taken many lives, and it’s only right that Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram content is admitted into courts as evidence. This will ensure the safety of teens suffering from depression all over the world, and especially protect those who are very present on these platforms.
