, Columnist
Context Matters When We Scrutinize Online Threats
We can’t let our modern fears become a zero-tolerance policy against tasteless jokes on social media.
Come on, it was a joke.
Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg
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Like a lot of people, I’m eagerly awaiting AMC’s version of John le Carré’s masterpiece “The Little Drummer Girl,” set to premiere in the fall. But this isn’t a column about popular culture. It’s about how easily my enthusiasm could get me into legal trouble.
Suppose that I were to decide, in celebration of the event, to post each week on social media one of my favorite lines from the novel. Two or three weeks in, I’d likely come up with this: “Shall we shoot the writer and go home?” What recent history teaches us is that the post might well bring the police to my door.