Policing the internet
by digby
Fergawdsakes:
The Justice Department has issued a federal grand jury subpoena to Reason, a prominent libertarian publication, to unmask the identity of commenters who made alleged threats against a federal judge.
In the June 2 subpoena, first published by the blog Popehat on Monday, the Justice Department orders Reason to provide a federal grand jury with “any and all identifying information” on the identities of commenters who mused about shooting federal judges and/or feeding them through a wood chipper.
A May 31 article on Reason’s blog about the prosecution of Silk Road founder Ross “Dread Pirate Roberts” Ulbricht spurred the anonymous commenters’ vitriol. Ulbricht pleaded for leniency, but a federal judge sentenced Ulbricht to life in prison without parole for setting up the illicit online drug market.
“It’s judges like these that should be taken out back and shot,” one Reason commenter wrote.
“It’s judges like these that will be taken out back and shot,” another responded.
“Why waste ammunition? Wood chippers get the message across clearly,” a third wrote. “Especially if you feed them in feet first.”
Another comment suggested shooting such judges on courthouse steps instead.
If they're going to start monitoring anonymous comment sections for hyperbolic speech we're going to see a huge uptick in employment because it will take millions of man hours to wade through all the swill on every web site on the internet. Perhaps they could start on the right wing websites where they commonly talk about killing anyone with whom they have a beef.
You have to love the idea that somebody in the FBI (or the NSA?) was reading blog posts at Reason and decided to police the comment section. Jesus H. Christ.
*And no I don't think making idle threats about killing judges is acceptable behavior. But then most of the stuff I read in comment sections is unacceptable behavior.
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