Harmful Speech—It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens

Answering Questions from the PDF
Student
Institutional Affiliation
Answering Questions from the PDF
It’s Complicated: The Social Lives of Networked Teens
Harmful speech refers to any expression, either through speech, text, or image. Harmful speech increases the risk that a particular audience will initiate violence against people from another group (Maitra & McGowan, 2012). Speech can cause harm to a person. Such harm includes; tarnished reputation, sense of safety, privacy, and feelings. Answering specific questions on harmful speech forms the basis of this paperwork.
Question 1
A handwritten letter is persistent because it can be kept and read later. It is visible since it can be shared among more than one person. The content is sharable and searchable because it can be spread among people. An email is persistent because it, as well, can be read later, are visible, shareable, and searchable too. Blogs are persistent, visible, shareable, and searchable because a reader can read them at any time.
Question 2
Persistence would help a bullied student have a reference to the bully and the message when reporting the incident to the authorities. Visibility would help a blogger accused of harassment and defamation by an individual as the blog can be reached by many people who would either vindicate or crucify him/her. Third parties would have the privilege of getting information through searching.
Question 3
Governments should keep off the internet because their involvement violates the freedom of speech and undermines interactions. Governments are a constraining factor since they create legal punishments for violators.
Blu-Ray Problem
A blue-ray disc key was leaked and posted in the DVD Technical forum where users started sharing it. A user posted the thirty-two-digit hexadecimal number online, and since it was a public forum, multiple users copied and shared it. AACS LA, the licensing administrator, then sued the forum for breach of secrecy, and violation of section 1201 of the Copyright Act prohibits the distribution of devices designed to facilitate copyright infringement. Members of the forum turned the suit into a joke and even continued sharing the key even more. Based on Lawrence’s Lessig code 2.0, the legal variable involves laws that support the protection of intellectual rights. Norms that will affect it include banning where the user can be removed from the forum. Market constraints are pricing structures so that users pay for using the software. The use of technology involves the use of hardware features to restrict some behaviors.
If I were advising the AACS LA, I would tell them they should use a hexadecimal notation representation to deter the sharing of the keys. Considering that the code has already been shared and the company and requesting website snot to share the numbers would constitute censorship, the best solution would be changing the code. Specific numbers cannot be regarded as intellectual rights due to the universal nature of numbers. Based on the case, DVD monkey is right to suggest that a company cannot own a number. Since the company does not have proof that it registered the numbers as an intellectual properly, it is not right to claim ownership.
Note on True Threats
Elonis was charged in court for putting up a Facebook post that was perceived to be threatening his wife, who had received a restraining order against him. Elonis responded he defended himself by saying that the Facebook post was just rap lyrics inspired by Eminem’s style. His conviction was later reversed because the negligence standard was too low and did not pass as subjectively intending to communicate a threat.
Questions 1
A private email to an internet pen-pal describing their fantasy of abducting, raping, and murdering passes is sufficient to support a conviction under federal threat statute. A Facebook post complaining about DEA may not be sufficient to convict a person...