Should cyberbullying be protected by the first amendment

Cyberbullying is among the contemporary concern in present society which has made several persons debate whether freedom of speech overrides the right of safeguarding their youngsters. According to Jaffe (2016), 52 percent of teenagers admit they have stated hurtful things to others online. From this number a third of teens have confessed doing it continually, constituting it as cyber-bullying. Although the first amendment provides individuals with the freedom of speech, it should not imply that somebody can misuse that right particularly if cyberbullying may hurt others severely. Cyberbullying need be secured by the first amendment since it disrupts defamation in some situations and can also lead to death. The extension of communication technologies is increasing the tactics bullies can humiliate their victims. With an intended Washington Bridge jump off, Tyler Clementi life came to a terrible end (Jaffe, 2016).

The author states that Tyler was of age 18 fiddler and 1st-year learner at Rutgers University who became a casualty to the severe attacks of the cyberbully. Shocked, Tyler died after being disgraced by his roommates. Ravi Dharun, who videotaped Tyler then displayed publicly online his colleague’s private instants with the masculine companion, with the intention of humiliating and exposing him in before his fellow students. It has been debated by people who contradict legal penalties for online conduct that cyberbullies must be held responsible for the response of their target. Jaffe (2016) articulates his viewpoint that offenders should be accused of the criminality they committed but not for the manner in which their casualty reacted, freeing the bully of any ownership of what happens after the crime. Based on this argument, should the court of law as well be anticipated to stop charging thieves with 1st-degree killing after they “unintentionally” kill their victim when committing their first felony? No, since whether it was their intent or not, the action was the outcome of their criminality, for which they need be penalized to the maximum extent.

From this view, cyberbullies are liable for the result of their crimes and need to be prosecuted regarding the harm they caused.   Legal laws for cyberbullying need to be supported because parents and schools have failed to patrol cyber misuse on their own efficiently. For instance, one of these cases was a terrible situation of the young girl’s suicide having been neglected by her online boyfriend, who in real sense was a made-up individual formed for the particular intention of hurting her (Coburn, Connolly & Roesch, 2015). Even if the first amendment, safeguard the right to free speech, the deed of intentionally hurting somebody by the internet, particularly if it results in suicide, need to be criminalized. The right to free speech need be restricted to safeguard the rights of others. In a congested public background, though shouting “FIRE” is exactly lawful, because it might result in pandemonium and might damage the hereditary rights of some people, it should not be permissible.

Despite the fact that the opposition claims that freedom of speech defends people who hurt others via the internet, cyberbullying be protected by the first amendment, as it is a kind of abuse and can lead cause death. There are laws criminalizing identity theft, sexual harassment, stalking and more if it takes place in the individual as well as online. Each of these activities has consequences. On the other hand, there is a severe online crime that lacks penalty—cyberbullying. Even though some individuals consider that implementing penalty for online conduct infringes the First Amendment's right to freedom of speech, cyberbullying has come to be an intrusive kind of aggravation that is not being handled parents and schools appropriately, is making disorder on institutions, and triggering life altering agony to its sufferers (McCarthy, 2014).

It is high time the society started taking action to penalize the criminals in hopes to prevent future cyberbullying and put it known that there shall be repercussions for their criminalities. More than 14% of high school learners have deliberated suicide, and nearly seven percent have attempted it (Jaffe, 2016). More significantly, putting bullying against the law will reduce the suicides' number of children. They will no longer worry concerning the pain and torment they would pass through daily. Most persons do not seem to comprehend that “the adverse impacts of bullying until adulthood” and it is about whether or not they interceded, but instead they stop the entire condition. Several parents allege that cyberbullying, or becoming the victim is “a ‘normal’ potion of growing up” and numerous of them likewise think that the bullying cannot be prevented (Jaffe, 2016).

Additional, the offenders might feel more liable to remain to commit cyber offenses. Following the apprehensions on the right to free speech being compromised via the protecting cyberbullying by the first amendment, the Hollis, (2016) proves another fault in their disagreement in claiming. According to Diaz (2016) cyberbullying negatively affects youth to the higher level than adults and adolescents. Youth have a higher probability of suffering from cyberbullying because they are still developing physically and mentally. Coburn, Connolly, and Roesch (2015) mention that children who are bullied are probable to face poor sleep, unhappiness, loneliness, depression, and anxiety. Misuse on these sites, including Sarahah, Yik Yak as well as ASKfk, can be most keenly touched by young persons, resulting in problems of damage of confidence. In conclusion, cyberbullying as an illegal crime is a debate that presently holds several controversial arguments.

However, it is indisputable that the sufferers of the crime are being affected. The crime is one that risks the security of Internet operators, since there lack of law in the Criminal Code reliable to the idea that this need is prohibited by each means. The lack of protecting cyberbullying by the first amendment linked with it similarly implies a sense of acceptance by the justice system of the crime and consequently might cause its criminals to feeling more motivated to mugging. Alvi, S. Downing, S. Cesaroni, C. The self and the ‘selfie’: Cyber-bullying theory and the structure of late modernity. In Violence and Crime in the Family: Patterns, Causes, and Consequences (pp. In Legal Frontiers in Education: Complex Law Issues for Leaders, Policymakers and Policy Implementers (pp. Emerald Group Publishing Limited.

Cox, T. Marczak, M. Teoh, K. Pol'y, 135. Hollis, L. P. Cybershaming–Technology, Cyberbullying, and the Application to People of Color. In The Coercive Community College: Bullying and its Costly Impact on the Mission to Serve Underrepresented Populations (pp. LJ, 83, 805.