Court: Antigay Cyber-bullying Not Protected Speech

By Julie Bolcer

GAVEL SCALES JUSTICE LAW LEGAL JUDGEMENT X390 (PHOTOS.COM) | ADVOCATE.COM

In one of the first cases in California to examine the issues surrounding free expression and online bullying, a state appeals court said Monday that antigay threats posted on the Web are not protected speech.

The case involves a 15-year-old boy, a former Los Angeles high school student who sued classmates for posting antigay messages on his website in 2005. The suit contended that the messages constituted hate crimes and defamation, but one classmate said the messages were protected by his right to free expression.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “In a 2-1 ruling Monday, the Second District Court of Appeal in Los Angeles said the violent language of the message — threatening to ‘rip out your ... heart and feed it to you’ and to ‘pound your head in with an ice pick’ — conveyed a harmful intent that is not protected by the right of free speech.”

The boy, identified only as D.C., moved with his family to an undisclosed location in Northern California.

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Reader Comments

Back to top Post a Comment Report Abuse
Name: Peter Eng
Date posted: 3/19/2010 8:04:21 PM
Hometown: Seattle, WA

Comment:
Bruce, I think you're jumping from A to Omega without even trying to stop at B or C.
Back to top Post a Comment Report Abuse
Name: Bruce Majors
Date posted: 3/18/2010 4:37:15 PM
Hometown: Washington DC

Comment:
Goodbye First Amendment! The government will get to decide which remarks are anti-gay and who is a homophobe. I will be fined if I argue against taxpayer coerced fundingg of sex cgange operations, or criticize Kenin Jennings or Barney frank as fit representatives of the gay community. Stalinism in lavender lame.
Back to top Post a Comment Report Abuse
Name: Roger Burr
Date posted: 3/18/2010 12:02:55 PM
Hometown: Marble Hill

Comment:
Hate speech???? HELL, THESE ARE TERRORIST THREATS!!!!!
Back to top Post a Comment Report Abuse
Name: BCC
Date posted: 3/17/2010 6:02:20 PM
Hometown: Buda TX

Comment:
To my knowledge, slurs per se are not protected speech. Granted, certain criteria must be met before action can be taken. A brief, accidental slur that doesn’t hurt anyone would not be actionable, but repeated slurs that, for example, create a hostile learning environment are a well-established violation of laws such as Title IX. Slurs have also been interpreted as “obvious abuse,” which is widely prohibited. The slurs in this particular case may not have been actionable, but no right, including free speech, can be taken so far that it violates the rights of other people.
Back to top Post a Comment Report Abuse
Name: Mark
Date posted: 3/17/2010 2:05:45 PM
Hometown: Palm Springs, CA

Comment:
The first paragraph is poorly written. Slurs are still protected speech (thank goodness, or we'd all be in trouble!).
Back to top Post a Comment Report Abuse
Name: Victor J Kinzer
Date posted: 3/17/2010 1:35:05 PM
Hometown: Bloomington, IN

Comment:
Advocate you need to fix your teaser for this article. Your teaser says anti-gay slurs and threats. The threats of violence are not protected speech, nor should they be. Slurs are in fact protected speech. You cannot incite to violence or threaten violence legally, but you can call someone pretty much whatever you want, no matter how odious it might make you it isn't illegal. The first amendment freak in me nearly blew a gasket when I read your teaser. The body of the article conveys the proper details, but this inconsistency needs to be rectified.

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