Conviction in Rutgers case a warning,
Case could affect free speech rights
The conviction of ex-rutgers student Dharun Ravi sends a message to social media users that actions and words played out across the Web could lead to a prison sentence, legal and digital experts say.
Ravi, convicted Friday of invasion of privacy and other charges for electronically spying on his freshman roommate during a gay encounter, could face up to 10 years in prison and deportation in a case likely to have lasting impact on how people use the Internet.
Some caution that free speech rights on the Web could also be affected.
“It demonstrates that there are consequences for somebody’s use of technology,” said Eric Nemecek, cochair of the American Bar Association’s Criminal Justice Cybercrime Committee. “This should be a cautionary tale for a lot of people.”
Nemecek said that in Ravi’s case, the jury looked not only at Ravi’s use of the webcam to spy on his roommate, but also at the Twitter messages he sent to determine his intent — a key factor in deciding whether he committed a bias crime.
The roommate, Tyler Clementi, committed suicide in September 2010, days after he discovered Ravi had secretly set up his laptop webcam to record him.
John Verdi, general counsel at the Electronic Public Information Center, said the case means people “aren’t going to be exempt from liability just because they are hiding behind a Twitter handle.”
“Tweets are by default public; they aren’t like Face- book posts where they are restricted to friends or a group,” he said. “Everyone who signs up for Twitter has an understanding that they are broadcasting.”
The case could impact constitutional rights in general, says Lawrence Walters, a Florida-based attorney.
“While the law was used appropriately in this particular case, we must be careful — as a society — to not give the government broad power to censor filming of individuals or events,” he said. “Any such laws have the potential to be misused by the government, to squelch discourse on matters of public concern.”
Hayley Gorenberg, deputy legal director of Lambda Legal, a national civil rights group, said the case was not about freedom of speech. “This is a case about bias intimidation and invasion of privacy,” she said.
New Jersey lawmakers hastened passage of an antibullying law because of the case, and Rutgers changed housing policies to allow opposite-sex roommates in an effort to make a more comfortable environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) students, the Associated Press reported.
“It is clear how important it is to have these laws and policies on the books for a situation like this one,” said Jody Huckaby, executive director of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays National.
He said schools must cultivate an environment of “respect, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.”