Man indicted for using Twitter as a deadly weapon: May mean landmark case in cyberstalking

Source: SALON

Author and journalist Kurt Eichenwald is epileptic and outspoken about his dislike for Donald Trump in print, online and on social media. It was widely reported that Eichenwald suffered a sudden seizure in December when he opened an animated tweet from John Rayne Rivello containing a flashing strobe light image that said: “You deserve a seizure for your post.”

Mr. Eichenwald’s wife found him on the floor of his home office after he opened the flashing tweet and called an ambulance. From Eichenwald’s Twitter account, she responded to the sender “@jew Goldstein”, tweeting, “This is his wife. You caused a seizure. I have your information and have called the police to report the assault.”

Rivello has since been arrested in Dallas, where he posted $100,000 bail, and more recently in Maryland, for cyberstalking.

This opened up what may be a landmark case in cyberstalking law, because even though speech (including online speech) is usually First Amendment-protected, experts say it won’t be here. And it appears to be the first time Twitter has been used in a legal case as a “deadly weapon”.

Read more: http://www.salon.com/2017/03/27/man-indicted-for-using-twitter-as-a-deadly-weapon-may-mean-landmark-case/