April 10, 2007
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MySpace and Free Speech
An appeals court in Indiana has ruled that free speech rights apply to a young girl who posted profanity and criticism about her school principal on her myspace account.
The judges overturned the penalty against her ruling it was covered by free speech. Here is the link: Link
You may now return to cursing your principal on the internet.
Comments (110)
Critics. What are we going to do with them!
uHHH, YAY.
THIRD! HAHA!
AND FOURTH!
FUCK YOU, PRINCIPAL?
=] It doesn’t do much to swear at someone online.
and fifth. Just for the heck of it I’m going to claim sixth and seventh and eighth too.
how come you’re talking a lot about cursing lately? lol
here we go with free speech again. She obviously has no respect for her principal, who is an authority figure over her. What she said shouldnt be covered by free speech. though i dont think anyone cares anymore… we’ve lost all moral values in this country…
yusssss
WOW I really wish I could turn back time and told off that security guard who was instigating me and threatened to interfere with my high school graduation. I would’ve given her a piece of my (free speech) mind!
But wait… doesn’t free speech only apply to American citizens?
Are you considered a full American citizen if you are under 18? We had this discussion in history once, I don’t remember the answer. I know you’re a born citizen, but you don’t get all your rights until you’re a legal adult.
shaweet
here we go with free speech again. She obviously has no respect for her principal, who is an authority figure over her. What she said shouldnt be covered by free speech. though i dont think anyone cares anymore… we’ve lost all moral values in this country…
I disagree, ButifulDisaster.
But I can only do that because I’m allowed to. My level of respect for you or anyone else has nothing to do with it. That’s the beauty of the bill of rights!
What is the line between free speech and slander now? That doesn’t seem to make any sense.
-Josh
Sedition Act, anyone?
THAT COCK-BASTARD, PFIEFER! …Actually, I’m practically the only one in the school who’s okay with the guy.
yay!
wikipedia used to have an “article” about my school’s principal, and how he was born into a family of ogres and such…unfortunately the wikipedia people caught on and deleted it.
Ok. I don’t like my principal. She’s pretty clueless sometimes.
Hahaha, I havnt had one school year where the kids at my school liked the principle.
I’m still not comfortable with swearing at all…
I’ve been discussing free speech in high schools in one of my classes right now. How fitting.
Lol.
Hooray! *(^%*Y(%#*$(*!&#)&%(
here we go with free speech again. She obviously has no respect for her principal, who is an authority figure over her. What she said shouldnt be covered by free speech. though i dont think anyone cares anymore… we’ve lost all moral values in this country…
I disagree, ButifulDisaster.
But I can only do that because I’m allowed to. My level of respect for you or anyone else has nothing to do with it. That’s the beauty of the bill of rights!
Posted 4/10/2007 8:11 PM by RaVnR
i figured someone would.. and after much consideration, even though its still ignorant to do what she did, since it was on myspace and it wasnt said at her school… it should be covered by free speech. but its still true that we’ve lost a lot of moral values in this country
PISS!
Well, my high school principal kind of sucked, but the president of my college seems to be like a pretty cool lady. So, I don’t think I will.
lol, Dan. lol.
Ah, Myspace.
SO LAME
well thank you. i was wondering when you’d okay it.
here we go with free speech again. She obviously has no respect for her principal, who is an authority figure over her. What she said shouldnt be covered by free speech. though i dont think anyone cares anymore… we’ve lost all moral values in this country…
Posted 4/10/2007 8:07 PM by ButifulDisaster19
honestly, the whole “hes an authority figure” is bull. yeah, sure, he’s older. good job. but that doesnt mean she cant express herself even to an elder.
free speech is free speech. there are no grey areas.
Score one for Lady Liberty.
Or the boss, whichever the case may be.
Phew.
*wipes brow*
yay!
I’m not quite sure that I fit in with all of your new rules, especially since I only voted for Bush once (didn’t vote the other time). But, when I didn’t vote, I never said anything bad about him because if I didn’t vote, I had no right to say anything.
As for the girl criticising her principal: It’s common for school-aged people to dislike the authority figures around them. That’s what happens when you sign up for the position of “enforcement”. I’m sure the principal wasn’t surprised by the fact that people don’t like him/her. I think it was very rude of the girl to post it somewhere public. Whenever I had anything negative to say, I wrote it in my own personal journal. That would probably have been a better solution.
But, kids these days think it’s cool to rip adults a new one. It’s ridiculous.
FUCK YEW, PRINCIPAL OF MY SCHOOL. D:
Oh goody, I had been taking a breather from cussing out random authority figures. Haha.
Offhand, I wonder how many of the people who were screaming “free speech” about Don Imus don’t think “free speech” applies to this girl.
someone actually took a picture of my principal and made a fake myspace out of it. It wasn’t the wittiest or most clever thing but it was realy entertaining to hear his speech on it the next day during school.
this can be shuffled under the “another myspace story” we will be telling children of another generation.
Too bad I don’t have one.
Uh…my pricipal sounds like a smoker and walks funny??
but you can’t cuss your boss out. Cuz they don’t need a reason to fire you in CO.
honestly, the whole “hes an authority figure” is bull. yeah, sure, he’s older. good job. but that doesnt mean she cant express herself even to an elder.
Posted 4/10/2007 8:28 PM by PERfECt_RElAtiONSx
she can express herself in a respectful way, instead she acted immature plain and simple
Actually it is all rather stupid. Restriction on a the citizens rights untill the age of majority is legally well tested. The right to vote comes to mind. There is no right to slander or verbally abuse a person, so even an adult my suffer the consequences of their “free” speech. A poorly thought out decision, by the same logic then by what right does the goverment prevent a 13 year old from voting? Having sex with who ever they want? By what right can the government force a citizen to go the school? If all rights of citizenship are vested in a minor, then compulsory education is unconstitutional.
A lot of judges are fools
Fuck public schools.
You can now send me to detention camp number 417.
I agree with Beren_C. Where do we define the thin grey line between free speech and slander?
I’d sure like to know.
People have been swearing about the principle of Christianity for a long time now. It only makes sense that you can swear about your principal as well.
There is no right to slander or verbally abuse a person, so even an adult my suffer the consequences of their “free” speech.
Posted 4/10/2007 8:55 PM by trunthepaige
I definitely agree
*&^%%#$ to the judges!
Yes, the kid has the right to say whatever she wants. She also has the right to pee-poo in the hallway but I wouldn’t do it if I were her. There’s a difference between having a right to do something or using your brain to decide if it’s really such a good idea.
“here we go with free speech again. She obviously has no respect for her principal, who is an authority figure over her. What she said shouldnt be covered by free speech. though i dont think anyone cares anymore… we’ve lost all moral values in this country…
”
I disagree, ButifulDisaster.
But I can only do that because I’m allowed to. My level of respect for you or anyone else has nothing to do with it. That’s the beauty of the bill of rights!
When there is moral rot within a nation, it’s government will topple easily. And then where is the strong country that promises us rights? Responsibility always accompanies rights. We are responsible to use our rights in such a way that we are not sinning (breaking God’s laws). Only then might God keep blessing America. “America is great because she is good; when she ceases to be good, she will cease to be great.”
I tired to comment here and $%$^%# xanga said i found a bug!
i love my high school’s principal. she’s tall and thin and pretty and asian and amazingly nice. she’ll stop and talk to you and compliment your shoes even when you’re late to class, then get flustered when she realizes the bell rang ten minutes ago, and say something adorable like, “goodness, we’ll just have to scurry you off to class then, won’t we!”
i shall refrain, as much as it is tempting
Wow…
Who thought it wouldn’t fall under free speech? Isn’t kinda like a book. Written form. Eh… Yeah… Free speech is just BROAD. I suppose it would depend on what she said. Maybe if she was really hateful and sadistic and saying she was going to kill her principal, that might be an issue. Buuuutttttt… I doubt that was the case.
I did not believe that just happen. How silly is that. Now, schools are taking away free speech on Myspace? If there is no threats made toward the school they have no rights trying to punish her.
well its not like the principal really had any bussiness on her myspace anyway. if she could say it in the halls to a friend then she could say it online. i know i talked mad shit against the dean of students at my school (our principal was a lot like president bush, a figurehead) and never got in trouble because they’re just words! now had she made threats that would be different, or attempted actual slander-such as accusations of molestation or likewise. talking shit about someone well now thats the way of society!
If she is really passionate about hating her principal she should say those things to his face, talking about someone behind their back is pussy shit.
Why is the principal even looking at her myspace. Unless she was on it at school, at which case she should be punished for improper use of school resources, and any consequences of any sights she went to. Other than that principal can’t do jack shit.
And Slander (or in this case libel) only exists if damages can be proven. Since a myspace page hardly qualifies as a reliable source then it doesn’t mean jack shit. I like saying jack shit
Indiana is a stupid state.
Freedom of speech does allow for it, no question. But caution still must apply to your speech as slander is not a given freedom.
good because my principal is a looser.
YES! I was so worried. Cussing out my principal is pretty much all i do on my blog, after all.
A girl my son knows was suspended and put in an alternative school for 6 months because she said she hated her principal and hoped she’d die of some horrible disease. This is such a new thing to deal with.
Oh jesh. Seriously? Seriously.
Why was the principal on her myspace anyways? There is no reason why a principal or school administration should be watch-dogging any student’s personal webpage unless there is some evidence that she left a physical threat to another person on that site.
I stand up for free speech because it is the only way to question our government. It is our only way that we can protect ourselves and our right to be free thinkers and independent from government rule. Was it a rude thing to do: Yes. Should the girl be punished for disrespecting: No.
Every day random people of all ages, races, careers, social classes are cussed out, called names, or verbally abused. It’s part of life. Deal with it.
Interesting. I would love to see the evidence.
However, any of you kids who cursed out the principal tomorrow in person wont even get heard by the supreme court..
Dan’s gettin’ down with the new layout digs!
Woohoo!!
Kids are going to curse their principals and teachers…Internet or bathroom walls. Legal or not. heh
Finally, a ruling involving the internet and school that I agree with. Yay!
My principal’s first name was Harry but he just went by H.John.
So here’s the thing. I think that just because you CAN say something, does not mean you should. Maybe if other people went along with this, these kinds of things wouldn’t happen…
But, hey, free speech is free speech.
yes we must fight to keep free speech.
A more complete article can be found at http://www.businessweek.com/ap/tech/D8ODP0L00.htm .
-New Kid
Just for those interested.
No Dan…don’t you remember your new internet rules? No cussing. So you may say bad things about the principal, but you can’t curse at him/her.
did you see this? <http://www.wbbm780.com/pages/342524.php?contentType=4&contentId=402279
1) insulting your principal is pretty lame. don’t kids have anything else to do?
2) insulting your principal on myspace is even lamer. at least have a backbone and say it in `real life.`
though I think this is morally wrong, and maybe not the most nice/most pleasant/most respectable thing.. It’s not against the law. It’s freaking myspace, for goodness sake. I can’t even believe they took that to court.
Oh my goodness, how about the offer KFC is making to Sanjaya? http://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_21273895.shtml
How about this Newsweek article on msnbc saying Global Warming doesn’t exist? http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17997788/site/newsweek/
Actually it is all rather stupid. Restriction on a the citizens rights untill the age of majority is legally well tested. The right to vote comes to mind. There is no right to slander or verbally abuse a person, so even an adult my suffer the consequences of their “free” speech. Posted 4/10/2007 8:55 PM by trunthepaige
Yes, but the right to vote and the right to free speech are two different things. And the rantings of a high schooler hardly qualifies as verbal abuse.
I prefer to use my freedom of speech otherwise, thanks for your permission Dan =)
i never stopped.
I think that Principal was just being an ass. I don’t think there is anything wrong with insulting or flaming over the internet. But the line has to be drawn when threats are being made. I doubt whatever that little girl said was worthy of court action. Besides, teenagers will complain about EVERYTHING. Hell, adults do it too. I’m pretty sure that principal had a few select words for her himself.
“Yes, but the right to vote and the right to free speech are two different things.”
And that is why it is a stupid ruling. That ruling claims they are the same thing. Constitution rights. Get it now?
it isn’t like it’d have stopped herfrom cursing the principal anyway
Free speech certainly allows for a lot of distasteful comments by a lot of vulgar people. However, that prospect is no where near as troubling as people limiting others’ free speech to avoid people being offended.
Ummmm….is it only students that can curse the Principal or can teachers do it too??
I’m still not comfortable with swearing at all…
Posted 4/10/2007 8:20 PM by flower_of_wisdom
I agree. I think it’s rude to swear about someone above you, however you can’t arrest someone for it.
Above= your elders.
1) insulting your principal is pretty lame. don’t kids have anything else to do?
2) insulting your principal on myspace is even lamer. at least have a backbone and say it in `real life.`
though I think this is morally wrong, and maybe not the most nice/most pleasant/most respectable thing.. It’s not against the law. It’s freaking myspace, for goodness sake. I can’t even believe they took that to court.
Posted 4/10/2007 11:21 PM by Completely_Compelled
Just what I was saying!
of course it’s free speech. It would be nice if free speech included remarks that offend liberals though. So far those seem to be illegal
Why should the principal be trying to discipline her for what she says on her myspace account? Schools are out of control. It’s about time someone stood up to them.
I, as an adult, could easily get sued for my blog if I revealed the name of the corporation, the real names of Scum Bag and his Hoodlums and did not deface the pictures. I even changed the name of the city and state I am in. I know this for a fact. I would get sued to repay my severance pay.
I do not agree with the ruling. The little brat needs a good kick in the ass.
What was the principal doing perving around myspace anyhow?
my principle can suck my balls!
Posted 4/10/2007 8:17 PM by shadow12613
I’m not a spelling nazi, but I thought that was funny.
Awww shoot. Don’t know if he’s still alive. He may be getting what he deserved…
Ehh, She should respect him since her Principal is her Principal, a higher status. But why in the world bother with her cursing her Principal on Myspace?
These teachers always look at their Students Myspaces and expect fluffy, kind comments. -o-
People are just too sensitive nowadays… Might as well sue someone for calling you stupid…
here we go with free speech again. She obviously has no respect for her principal, who is an authority figure over her. What she said shouldnt be covered by free speech. though i dont think anyone cares anymore… we’ve lost all moral values in this country…
Posted 4/10/2007 8:07 PM by ButifulDisaster19
Since when does criticising another person denote a low level of morals in someone? Did you read the article? She was critisizing school policy regarding body piercings. Its not like she went online and started cursing or swearing for no reason. It was very much a political statement, which in students are protected under the Supreme Court ruling of Tinker V Des Moines (1969). She had every right to say what she did. We haven’t lost all moral values in this country, we’ve lost all knowledge of the rights and liberties that we have as citizens. And that’s a hell of alot scarier to me than low morals. The moment we stop allowing ourselves to critisize ‘authority figures’ is the moment we walk ourselves into a dictatorship.
Awesome.
FUCK THE HUNTER COLLEGE STUDENT SERVICES STAFF!!
…So there.
… Whenever I hear stories about this kind of stuff, I always wonder what kind of principal or teacher is so violated and hurt by a student’s rantings on the internet that he/she feels compelled to go to court about it to defend their honor.
last year I got in trouble for posting stuff about my school on my xanga.
I was so. mad.
LOL.
That actually happened to me, except with my English teacher.
We didn’t go to court, he just threatened my grade and got really angry
HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!!!! The teacher must of done something really mean in her eyes… people at my school call the vice pricapal nasty things…
so what myspace is like a journal ok read by lots of people but hey big deal if she needs to vent that is what blogs are for
As long as it wasn’t slander, I guess..
What is this? Kindergarten? “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it at all.” We’re adults and I think that means people can’t be indignant when they’re called a bad name. The world isn’t always lollipops and gumdrops. Not everyone will like you and some will actually tell you that to your face.
I’d like to keep my teaching job, thank you. And I actually LIKE my principal!
The moment we stop allowing ourselves to critisize ‘authority figures’ is the moment we walk ourselves into a dictatorship.
Posted 4/11/2007 9:32 AM by Ayliana87
THANK YOU! I was worried I was going to have to go into a whole rant about that myself. I agree wholly on that statement.
if your going to copy and past someone elses coment to make your own point, you better make sure you read through all the comments. I believe people were stupid enough not to do that. i’ve seen 3 people pick apart my statement. My second statement was that i believe since it was on myspace it is covered by free speech fine. but the fact that people think its morally okay to criticize authority figures is wrong. but i unerstand that we have that right. this girl had a problem with a rule at her school so in her imature state of mind she went online and cursed out her principal. She could have went to him directly and told him why she had a problem with it. when i was in school we were told there were rules out in the real world so you better get used to it. if you cant handle it now you’ll never be able to handle it in the real world. i hope she learns!
I’ll say it again: The moment we censor ourselves in fear of critisizing so called authority figures is the day we give up our rights and freedoms in this country. And how can it not be morally ok to critisize them? That what keeps them in check from abusing thier power. Because I might offend them? Live and let live. I’ve had many people in my life critisize and offend me and I didn’t try to bring criminal charges on them. Half the time I didn’t even blink in response to the comment. Why? Because I’m a better person than that. People have the right to thier opinions, whether they’re 15 or 51, but they don’t have the right to silence others. This principle was in a position of power and authority, instead of abusing it he should’ve addressed the problem the girl had a grievence with, with calm and dignity. He should’ve been the better person. Then he would’ve recieved respect you feel he’s entitled to, because he would’ve actually earned it.
And to be honest, you’re view on the matter scares the crap out of me. There are rules out in the real world so you better get used to it? What ever happened to trying to change the rules? What happened to protesting and boycotting, or voting with your feet when your boss angers you? There are rules out here in the real world, yes, but that doesn’t mean that they’re set in stone. And it doesn’t mean that we can’t fight against them. That was the lesson that this girl learned through this ordeal. And thank God too.