Discuss: Dutch Girl Arrested for Tweeting Terrorism Joke

[Col_StaR]

I saw this on a friend's FB feed today.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/cri...or-threat-american-airlines-article-1.1755809

A 14-year-old Dutch girl who threatened a terrorist attack in a tweet to American Airlines was arrested in Rotterdam on Monday — but that didn't stop a copycat from tweeting a similar threat to another airline.

A Twitter user named "Sarah" wrote on Twitter over the weekend that she was a member of Al Qaeda and that she would "do something really big."

The threat was apparently meant as a joke, but American Airlines wasn't laughing.

The airline tweeted: "Sarah, we take these threats very seriously. Your IP address and details will be forwarded to security and the FBI."

TL;DR: 14 year old girl tweets a terrorist threat to American Airlines, says it's a joke, ends up getting arrested.

I was particularly drawn to this story because of its similarities on things that happen around this community. The Internet offers the illusion of anonymity whilst simultaneously removing certain aspects of communication (e.g. subtleties in nuance and humor), so what could be intended as a joke could easily be misinterpreted as a serious statement. Alternatively, individuals who are embolded by the illusion of anonymity will believe that they are free from consequence, make legitimate threats, and then back-track in order to save themselves from consequences they thought they were invulnerable against. Whether it's admitting to hacks, threatening to DDoS, or outright saying that someone is going to slit my throat while I'm sleeping, it's sometimes difficult to tell what's sarcastic and what's humorous.

At the same time, how does one react to something like that? Is it better to err on the side of safety and assume that all statements are legitimate? Or is it better to write off any threats over the internet as empty attacks emboldened by some internet toughguy?

Which brings me to this case, and the current discussion question for the thread: did this girl deserve to be arrested for the tweet?

 

[MoLoToV]

Yes, It's not something to joke about. I believe making such jokes is disrespectfull to all the families / friends who had someone die in such situations ( 9/11 etc. )

 

[TheRealAussie]

People do such stupid things on the internet. I'm not sure about being arrested, but she should have known the possible consequences for doing that.

 

[fatmannumbah8]

It's upsetting to see this happen. A persons life ruin just because she isn't mature enough to have a Twitter account. This is a problem with todays age, I know some really immature kids who have Facebook and Twitter and I can see them doing something stupid like this. I don't know what she was thinking when she wrote that and imagine how the families of people who died during terrorist attacks felt seeing this post.

 

[Giggity69Goo]

This was featured on iFunny

 

[BritishShoop]

I feel like this sort of joke should definitely be followed up by the authorities, and sure, I feel that the arrest is appropriate.
However she does not deserve jail or any other kind of sentencing. There are far to many people in jail, for sarcastic comments on the internet.
I REALLY wish I could trust the law, I really do. But these days, the law has no common sense, you cannot put ANY faith in it whatsoever.

 

[Beardy]

Honestly, that's some sort of joke to tweet that to an American airline. It's common sense not to even talk about that in an airport, much less publicly send a message to them. Maybe if it was to a friend avoiding talk of an airline, but anybody with a little common sense wouldn't be in this predicament.

 

[TheCornStealer]

Why is everyone hating on Americans?

 

[Toast]

Something tells me that 90% of the kids in my grade would be arrested for the things they say...

 

[BoostMeGaming]

Something tells me that 90% of the kids in my grade would be arrested for the things they say...

What grade are you in?

 

[Dah_Hobbit]

Yes, she deserves to be arrested. She should know that there have been terrible things like this that have happened and even joking about that wouldn't be that funny, and it would make a few people chuckle but many people that work for the airlines worried.

 

[Toast]

What grade are you in?

I'm freshman, 9th. Missed the cutoff by like 2 weeks.