Press Coverage

Are students blurring the lines between video games and reality? How about friendly rivalries being perceived as threats? Social media attorney Ethan Wall spoke with CBS 4 Miami about why freedom of speech is not being harmed when trying to keep students safe, and why students are taking such social media legal risks.

In today’s world, the hijinks of high schoolers are taken quite seriously. Gone are the days of stealing mascots or having ill will toward an instructor. Instead, students make TikTok videos or tweets that sometimes threaten other students or even hint at school shootings. A new directive, the “It’s No Joke Campaign,” has been initiated by the Florida Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) to raise awareness about the social media risks students are taking.

While law enforcement understands that not every post on social media is an actual threat, the police are being more proactive in spotting these types of risks to prevent serious harm to students and communities. To understand how issues of social media law applies to online speech, CBS caught up with social media lawyer Ethan Wall to get his perspective.

Ethan explained that while no one wants the government to restrict someone’s freedom of speech, we would prefer that higher scrutiny be given to online speech deals with threats of violence in schools. This is particularly important in the wake of Columbine and Marjorie Stoneman Douglas, where a new reality has formed that has shaken students, parents and the government. Just last year in Florida, more than 800 juveniles faced judges for threatening schools and other related offenses. These include postings on bringing a gun to school, sneaking in a bomb and warning classmates not to attend school the next day. Examples the DJJ says are increasing.

Ethan believes that not every post constitutes a threat under current social media law, but there is a gray area that sometimes requires the police to arrest first and ask questions later. In doing so, the court system can sort out the legal distinctions on what is real threats and what is an expression of free speech amongst students. In doing so, law enforcement can be more proactive to avoid mass shootings even if it interferes with someone’s ability to post social media content about guns.

By taking more action against social media threats, the police are teaching students a lesson that their words and actions can have legal consequences. Threats are now being taken seriously, and students must think twice before posting things that may be seen as a threat – because we value the lives of our children more than we do the complete freedom of expression.