Twitter Missives Stalking or Free Speech?

27.08.2011
Twitter messages are the subject of a legal case that raises the question of whether public postings on the social networking service can amount to stalking if they are deemed threatening to another person.

Is posting a public message on Twitter the same as speaking publicly from a soapbox, or is it a more direct form of communication, such as a letter or phone call?

A federal criminal case involving a man accused of tweeting thousands of vehement messages aimed at a Maryland-based Buddhist leader tests the question.

According to , William Lawrence Cassidy is accused of online stalking because of 8,000 Twitter and blog entries that he allegedly posted about Alyce Zeoli and her Buddhist group. The posts included messages such as "Do the world a favor and go kill yourself. P.S. Have a nice day," or "Ya like haiku? Here's one for ya. Long limb, sharp saw, hard drop."

Zeoli says because of the posts she feared for her life and has locked herself up at home for extended periods of time, even hiring armed guards at one point.

There are against cyberstalking and many have enacted such laws as well. The question, however, is whether or not they apply to messages posted publicly on Twitter.