Ok people. This is probably one of the scariest things related to Social Media and Free Speech I’ve heard… ever.
According to David Seaman of the Business Insider:
“By the end of next week, the US government very likely will have the power to lock up US citizens for life at Guantanamo Bay or other military prisons — without charge and without trial.
This means that, in the near future, a controversial Twitter post, attending a peaceful protest, or publishing an anti-Congress critique or anti-TSA rant on Google+ could land you “indefinite detention” for life, in the wording of the bill. No access to a lawyer, no access to trial.”
Indefinite Detention For Tweeting.
Yes, you read that right. A controversial Twitter post.
David was kind enough to provide a video to help illustrate this massive breach of liberty, and encouraged bloggers to share it, so please have a quick view. It’s 3 minutes and 33 seconds and he explains incredibly well.
As David said, it may even be too late. There have been senators boldly standing up to this, like the new senator from Kentucky, Rand Paul, but without the outrage of the American People, these types of things will continue to be covertly “shoved” into bills.
I think David says it best “I know people don’t like to stir up trouble.” We’ve gotten to a point in our country where we feel shamed if we stand up for liberty, and the founding principles that made america great. I really don’t know how we slipped into such complacency. I suppose we all just got too comfortable. I guess I’ve always had a healthy skepticism of government, growing up hearing stories of how my grandmother had to flee her gorgeous home in Austria when her own government decided that she and her family were no longer welcome in the country they had called home for years. That government was the Third Reich. Ask the folks of Austria and Germany ten years before Hitler rose to power and I bet not one of them would think that their own governments were capable of the atrocities they were about to commit.
Government Out Of Control?
Before I get a load of comments saying “are you actually comparing our government to the Nazis?” — no, I’m not saying that the US government is genocidal dictatorship. What I am saying is that, as Americans, we must break out of this complacency because governments are only as good as the people who care about running them. Leave them to their own devices and I don’t think you’ll like the direction we’ll head. This National Defense Act is proof of that.
What Can You Do?
As David said in the video above, it may very well be too late, but I’m not willing to let this one go without expressing some outrage. And that is the purpose of this post. Get outraged. Get aware. This should have been all over the pages of Social Media Today, We Are Social People, Mashable. But instead what were we reading last week? How much people hate Klout.
We messed up guys. We missed something that could very well effect the entire direction of our beloved social media. Of our freedom of speech in general. We were too busy being complacent. But, now that we know, use what we have to spread the word and make sure that the folks in this government know that if they pull crap like this, they will NOT have your vote. Social media gives us tremendous power, but we have to defend it.
You hear a lot of social media stories about Founders. Founders of great social media startups and companies. But here’s a wise quote from another founder. A founder of our nation:
“When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty.” ~Thomas Jefferson
-Image source: http://www.flickr.com/photos/freefoto/2194435381/
