At times it seems like we’re moving in endless circles like a ferris wheel caught in some twisted carnival, seemingly progressive one moment in that we can entertain ideas like space travel, but hopelessly doomed the next as our civil liberties are fading faster than LeBron James‘ hairline. Social media magnifies that paradigm. It’s fueled revolutions in one country while tightening big brother’s grip in another.
In recent news a 31-year-old man was arrested and spent eight days in jail for posting what authorities believed to be dangerous threats on his Facebook page. Kentucky-native James Evans posted lyrics from the song “Class Dismissed (A Hate Primer)” by the band Exodus, and while the lyrics are graphic in nature, there was no indication that Evans was a danger to anyone – except himself maybe and those within earshot of that godawful song:
Student bodies lying dead in the halls, a blood splattered treatise of hate
Class dismissed is my hypothesis, gun fire ends in debate
The warrant claims that Evans “threatened to kill students and or staff at school.” This after a ruling that song lyrics can not be used as evidence unless it relates directly to the case. The lyrics, while egregious on their own, represent nothing more than one artist’s vision. Exodus guitarist Gary Holt released a statement saying “Exodus does not promote or condone terrorists, threats or bullying.” So in other words some guy went to jail for nothing.
We all know at least half a dozen people who deserve to be locked up for some of the crap they put on social media, but this is outrageous – a clear violation of free speech and a complete waste of police resources. The situation is reminiscent of when parents were blaming Dungeons & Dragons and Marilyn Manson for their parenting woes. It’s paranoia, mixed with ignorance and fear – a Molotov cocktail that has set fire to our rights. But you can’t put toothpaste back in the tube, once that fear is out it spreads and is contagious like a disease.
The truth is, the police have an argument. And had they found a loaded gun people might not be so quick to judge. But if social media is being relied on to express any sort of truth, the police are in for a rocky ride. There was no threat and other than having really bad taste in music James Evans did nothing wrong. He did something that we here at SONGLYRICS do everyday, which is post lyrics on social media — some good, some bad, others downright insane. It’s how we share our voice and opinions.
The police have a case and that’s what’s so terrifying about all this: As time goes on and we become more integrated, privacy and outside opinion will be harder and harder to come by. Just read half the comments on YouTube, one person disagrees with popular opinion and all of a sudden they’re Adolf Hitler.
Social Media is not the enemy, it’s not even a real thing. It’s a fake world, a platform that’s helped expose just as many atrocities than it’s created. It’s totally indifferent to us. And free speech is falling through it like granules of sand in an hourglass. Before you know it, it’ll be gone.
It’s come to the point where anyone from anywhere can be detained for any reason. Bust heads now and ask questions later. Scary, yes, but truthfully old news. The moment those planes made impact our entire constitution become one big dry erase board. So what now? What direction do we take? Should we all abondon ship and make for the hills? Derail the train and raise arms. That reality is closer than we think. But there’s another way, there’s always another way. Maybe by sharing information and supporting the real, and by real the pure at heart, there can be an alternate ending to this story. That George Orwell wasn’t a prophet, but a writer who helped avert disaster rather than bring it to life.
Public Enemy had it right – “Fight the Power:” [LISTEN]
Got to give us what we want
Gotta give us what we need
Our freedom of speech is freedom or death
We got to fight the powers that be
Lemme hear you say
Fight the power
