James W. Cushing ()

The new reality of social interaction includes the popular, and seemingly always proliferating, social media websites like Facebook and Twitter. Considering the increasing ubiquity of social media, it was only a matter of time before the U.S. Supreme Court would weigh in on its use, which it had the opportunity to do in the matter of Elonis v. United States, 135 S.Ct. 2001 (2015).

In the Elonis matter, petitioner Anthony Douglas Elonis’ wife left him in May 2010, taking their children with her. Following their separation, Elonis began listening to “violent music” and posting so-called “rap lyrics” to his Facebook page. Eventually he changed his name on his Facebook profile to “Tone Dougie,” a rap-style nom de plume, in order to create an “online persona.” His rap lyrics contained rather violent and graphic language but did contain a disclaimer that his lyrics were fictions with no intentional resemblance to real people. He also said on Facebook that he writes these lyrics, and other such posts, as a form of therapy for himself to deal with the pain of the breakup of his family, according to the opinion.