U.S.—The ridiculous overreaction of our federal and state governments to simple freedom of speech has become an all-too-obvious tactic to crack down on our freedoms and remove them from us incrementally…and the case of Cameron D’Ambrosio in Methuen, Mass., exemplifies the latest casualty.
Many people believe this kind of utter abject stupidity should be outlawed in and of itself…but it’s not, and so here we are.
Granted, D’Ambrosio, 18, is a punk, an attention whore, and a no-talent white rapper wannabe. But the posting of a “threat” about three weeks ago got him in trouble (with varying entities; some sites say it was with the local authorities, some sites claim it was with his school that took up the matter with officials and facilitated the action against him) on Facebook has the kid being held in federal custody for the next three months until he faces trial. Yes, federal custody. Yes, three months; he’s already been in for nearly a month, the feds have 120 days (4 months) to bring him to a speedy trial. Who knows how much this is costing the taxpayer.
What he posted is at issue, too.
One site, Policymic, is reporting that the post that offended the school administration was a rap—yes, part of his stupid song lyrics—that went “everybody you/will see what I am going to do/kill people.” Another site, Inquistr, had it that he was bragging “F^ck a boston bomb wait till u see the shit I do, I’m be famous rapping, and beat every murder charge that comes across me,” this Facebook post NOT being a part of a song lyric, and post in the wake of the “deadly Boston Marathon bombing” (which many believe to have been yet another staged event in an effort to strip us of more civil rights, including Fourth Amendment protections to search and seizure).
So the very fact that no news reports can agree as to exactly what the kid did or who responded to it lends to the suspicion that this is yet another completely subjective incident that the government is using to underscore their “crackdown on terrorism,” but which is really a crackdown on free speech, done a little bit at a time so we just don’t notice—or accept it—just like frogs being put in a pot of cool water that’s placed on the burner to heat up.
But worse, it’s yet another indication that social networking sites (particularly Facebook) are being used to “find the criminals” in society. Screw the fact that the internet is the last bastion of where we can voice our opinions and make others aware of our thoughts and feelings…Facebook is a privately-owned site, not a government-owned site, so you can’t “express your opinion” to the extent that you can voice redress of your grievances to the government (this is something we try to explain to people occasionally here: While you may believe you have complete “freedom of speech” to post what you want here and at our Facebook page, if you get abusive or violate the ground rules, you’re out…because this is a PRIVATE site, not a PUBLIC [government] site). However, when you’ve already established your persona, even at age 18, as a “rapper”….and you’re repeating song lyrics within context of song lyrics (if that is indeed what he was doing, as some sites say he wasn’t)…and you have no criminal history…and you’re behaving perfectly normally without any outward signs of threats….aren’t there better things that law enforcement and officials of all sorts have to do with their time?
As well, it shows the dangers of what Facebook is becoming, which is to say: Law enforcement/powers-that-be are turning to it to find “thought crimes” and “deter them ahead of time,” all of this with Facebook’s complete compliance and blessing. Further, Facebook is becoming so large and so monitored that people can be subjected to other’s ideas of what’s “offensive,” and with enough effort, even the most innocuous of posts can draw unwanted attention—and action—toward networking posts that literally mean nothing offensive or harmful.
That may not be the case with D’Ambrosio. He may turn out to be a real threat. But somehow, we doubt it….not to the level of being held on an unreachable bail (a million dollars) and detained in federal custody for months and months. Society seems to be getting stupider…and our government is leading the way.
As is usually the case, we urge you to get out of Facebook, as you are voluntarily giving information to people who can “check” on you via that social networking site; not only your stats, but your thoughts, opinions, likes and dislikes as far as social trends and government action. There are alternatives, such as World Truth, as regards oppressive social networking sites like the one that got this boy in trouble. Be careful what you post; even if you own and operate the website, there are people who are out to do you harm and, in the name of “hope and change,” will sacrifice freedoms in order to get it done.