http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/Speech/internet/news.aspx?id=21668
There was an article related to the topic of this week’s class that I found interesting. Cardinal’s manager Tony La Russa settled a lawsuit against Twitter; apparently someone used his name to post comments about drunk driving incidents and deaths on the Cardinals team. The Twitter page said something about “bio=parodies”, which I suppose was meant as a disclaimer of sorts. I think this kind of story should make parents think about what their kids are doing online. Anyone can say they are anyone on these sites—which makes it dangerous as far as online predators. We’ve talked in our group discussion this week about alternatives to DOPA that don’t infringe on first amendment rights. Is there any way to verify that people are legitimately using Twitter as they should? Does the creator of the La Russa “bio-parody” have first amendment protection? (I think only Twitter was named in the suit, leading me to believe that either they had no case against them or they couldn’t figure out who it was.) Unfortunately, stories like this may also reinforce the idea for some people that social networking sites should be blocked in schools and libraries in order to protect children.
On another note, we’ve also talked in group discussions about parents being ultimately responsible for what their children reads/views. This afternoon at work, a customer brought back two manga novels. She said she had given her teen her credit card and sent him into the bookstore to pick out his books. She was really unhappy with the content of the books and wanted to know why we sold her child ‘pornography’. It was a good opportunity, though, to explain intellectual freedom and first amendment rights to someone.