Why are people getting into all sorts of trouble for what they post on Facebook?

Hmmm interesting….are they generally job related…

maybe it was disrespectful

“Freedom of Speech” does not mean “I can say whatever I damn well please and there can’t be consequences.”

“Freedom of Speech” means “I can say whatever I damn well please and can’t be arrested for it.”

Private companies, including employers, are more than welcome to take action against people for not liking what they say. Freedom of Speech is an agreement between citizens and the government, not between citizens and not between citizens and corporations.

Their posts can cause disruption in their workplaces and the bosses have to think about those things so they can maintain order and get the work done.

Was what the police officers said slanderous? If so, then it should be treated no differently than any other kind of defamation. If they had shopped her head onto a porn star’s body and posted it on the internet then I would expect similar consequences.

Here’s a link with more information.

1. There’s a difference between freedom of speech and slandering other people. Not having seen the comments myself, I assume they cross over the line of what’s generally socially acceptable behavior.

2. Police officers are supposed to be leaders in their communities and set good examples. Such behavior is not becoming of an officer or community leader.

3. In general, people get into trouble whenever they are shown to be racist or bigoted, not necessarily just because of Facebook (I’m reminded of another recent event where a woman was fired for forwarding a racist Obama joke via email). Facebook has only made it easier for people to express themselves, and sadly, many people do not have a suitable filter between their minds and their fingertips. As time goes on, people will wise up about what’s appropriate to post and what’s not.

yah, what @MrItty said.

So if the users set their Facebook security so that only friends could see it, would that make a difference?

Once, on a particularly down day, I wrote my own obituary and posted it to my facebook. Nobody said anything about it and I assumed it was because nobody’d seen it. Then I got evicted from my dorm room.
I’ve since deleted my facebook page.

@mritty; I wish I could give you mure lurve than one for that answer. Simply brilliant.

Freedom of speech is great and fine. But when what you are saying and doing comes back to someone like an employer, they will always take action against you.

Such as peyton_farquhar’s school not wanting the responsibility of a suicide on their hands in their dorms. Even if there was a slight chance it was real, they didn’t want the risk.

When in the military, you aren’t allowed to speak out or say anything in uniform. That protects them. The newspaper saying “Local man says ‘x’ stuff” it’s ok. But if the paper says “Local US Marine says ‘x’ stuff” It can be very bad.

10 Privacy Settings Every Facebook User Should Know.

@robmandu That was a great article you just linked to. Lurve.

Personally, I don’t mind having my page be public, but for those concerned about privacy, there are clear, simple suggestions in that article.