Supreme Court to Decide if Violent Facebook Posts Are Free Speech

The Supreme Court is weighing free-speech rights in regard to violent or threatening language on Facebook and other social media on Monday. The justices will hear arguments in the case of a man who was sentenced to nearly four years in prison for posting graphically violent rap lyrics on Facebook about killing his estranged wife and an FBI agent. Anthony Elonis of Pennsylvania says he never meant to threaten anyone, but a federal appeals court rejected his claim that his comments were protected by the First Amendment. While free speech advocates say the speaker's intended meaning needs to be taken into account, the Obama administration says requiring proof that a speaker intended to be threatening would undermine the law's protective purpose.