Why We Shouldn T Be Prosecuted For Statements Made On Social Media

Individuals shouldn’t be prosecuted for statements made on social media. One reason I think that is because doing so would be a direct violation of our first amendment rights. It also only affects two people making it a waste of time as it doesn’t affect many people. The ability to prosecute someone for an offense like this would be unlawful and a waste of taxpayer’s money. Cyberbullying is a crime that can be prevented by simply logging off but most people don’t do that. The first reason people shouldn’t be prosecuted for statements made on social media is because it would be a direct violation of our first amendment rights. In source 2 paragraph 12 it says “It usually doesn’t justify civil (legal proceedings) without constituting outright false statements such as slander or libel”. This shows that simple comments on a Facebook or Instagram page like “I hate you” or “you’re ugly” are comments that do not constitute an arrest or trial as they are mere insults not slander or false comments. With this information you can know that the government won’t be spending time worrying about smuggling if this bill is passed, they will be worried about teenagers posting harmless insults on social media instead.
Another reason people shouldn’t be prosecuted for statements on social media is because it is a waste of time because it is not a wide spread issue.
The bill says they would be prosecuting individuals not groups so the results would not be enough to constitute the time they want the police and government to put into this issue. In source 1 paragraph 7 it states “Cyberbullying might seem somewhat trivial, as it only affects two people: the bully and the victim.” This shows how wasteful this would be, spending hours on one case of a kid who said someone was ugly and then taking up a judge’s time worrying about conviction. With this bill in place the police force’s time seems almost unvalued as you are making them worry about petty insults on the
internet. Individuals shouldn’t be prosecuted for statements made on social media because it’s a waste of taxpayer’s hard earned money. Some might say that although taxpayer’s money would be used it isn’t a waste because we are helping victims in the process. This is an invalid argument because it can be prevented by simply signing off when it is happening or having parents monitor their children’s social media accounts. You can’t force people who are preventing cyberbullying by checking their children’s accounts to pay money to help the children’s parents who aren’t doing so. Cyberbullying is a serious issue that we face in this country but there are other ways to handle it besides enforcing a bill that violates our rights, and wastes our time and money.