Precedence is Set for ARRESTING People Over Twitter Remarks.

Thank you for sharing and this is alarming. We should continue to struggle for Freedom of Speech, Freedom of Press, and Freedom of Expression even in the digital age.

The era of democracy is over.

My My!

So now everyone will need to get her/his tweet ratified by agencies before posting?! Hope I am not booked for this one! :(

If the protests he directed became violent, then there was a good reason to look at him and his "direction" of those protests to see if he was part of conspiracy to do violence.

I am guessing, but the twitter messages probably cleared his name because they had no directions for violence. If every time he sent a message, violence occurred, it does make him look responsible and he may in fact be responsible.

I wouldn't worry about Twitter anymore than anything else you use, such as the telephone, cell phone, or e-mail.

Absolutely Riddiculous.

wow, so when the Twitter users join and comply with all their personal information, their freedom of expression is compromised and subjected to prosecution.. no wonder Miley Cyrus quit Twitter..!

This reminds me of things like people getting fired for saying something about their job on Facebook.

Just because something is on the internet doesn't mean you can't be held accountable - it's not a free pass.

What happened to America, the Land of the Free? Is this the change B.O. promised?

what kind of 'Hope' is this?

I agree with Roy on this.

If the intent is to organize to insight violence or treason, they leave themselves open for prosecution if they can be identified, which with the sofistication of tracking, it should be easily done even if they are anonymous.   

All the digital media can be anonymous, and it can be used for stalking and other forms of conspiracy particularly on twitter that is a constant stream of information in real time. 

Thanks.

I suppose they will be putting together warrants for The North Korean leader, Qaddafi and Hugo Chavez as well. Not the Taliban, because they get droned to death. Possibly this order may be retroactive in content, so If anyone made any boo boos, there is still time to head for the hills! I may have said something good at some point and perhaps they will bring me a medal for patriotic bravery. Lets just say I research all my truths and only write stuff, that even if deemed nasty, they are at least verifiable.

Don't know why anyone is surprised about the government spying on the people.  Bush/Cheney and their cohorts made it legal to spy on U.S. citizens without even a judge's ok.  And Obama has not done anything to change that so far.  At least to the best of my knowledge.  So get used to it.

I know i'm gunna dig out my tin foil hat. Call my buddy, Roz, put on some Captain Beefheart........and chill.

Does anyone know what the exact charges were?

Like "inciting to riot", or some such? Had to be for something, in order to get arrested.

As far as i know, anything put on the internet for viewing is public knowledge. If he said something that was considered grounds for arrest - in a public forum - i don't know what freedom of expression, free speech, a free press, or government spying has to do with it.

Not like you can stand on a soapbox and create a riot without you should get arrested.

Could have been the picture of Lenin.

Sara, "two boxes of ammunition"? Liquid mercury? For what? Sounds as if someone meant to cause trouble.

The District Attorney and his spokesperson were at pains to explain why the State would drop all charges against these dangerous twitterists and of course, refused to admit that these charges were unconstitutional and a heavy-handed attempt to scare anarchists and others from protesting in ways unsanctioned by the government. Instead, the prosecution says they decided that pursuing the charges “would be unwise” after consulting other law enforcement agencies and because of other pending investigations. The secret affidavit authorizing the arrests in Pennsylvania is set to become public on Nov. 23rd. examiner.com

It's a brave new world out there I don't condone inciting violence against the state or any one else. These two were accused of listening to police scanners (not a crime), and telling protesters where the police presence was. As far as I know, they were not inciting any violence. Who knows, it's all a state secret.

Remember the debate during the "Patriot Act"  legislative process. If you've got nothing to hide, what are you afraid of was the rhetoric from the supporters. Well, this case is an illustration of what you've got to worry about. It is now permissible to arrest you under the pretense that you might be involved in illegal activity. Proof of illegal activity is a mere inconvenient legal formality that can be disregarded now. If you are "lucky" and get labeled an "enemy combatant" you can be held without charge, and indefinitely. No warrants, no probable cause and no due process under the new "rules."  The State  might have to go tell a super secret judge what's going on, but after the fact, not before.

9-11 changed all the notions we had as a society with regard to basic rights and freedom. I don't know how one saves the foundations of the nation by subverting the principles. If you think the sacrifice of civil liberties is worth the price of a false sense of safety, you've got no problem with this case. Otherwise, it's time for a reassessment of what you think you thought.