美最高法推翻一起Facebook言論定罪

The US Supreme Court has thrown out the conviction of a man who posted violent messages about his wife and co-workers on Facebook, in a case that was being closely watched over its potential implications for online speech.

美國最高法院(US Supreme Court)推翻了一名在Facebook上對其妻子和同僚發出威脅性言論的男子的罪名。該案由於對網上言論具有的潛在影響，受到了密切的關注。

Anthony Elonis was convicted on four counts of transmitting threatening content in 2011 after ranting online about wanting his wife dead and, in one photograph posted on the social media network, holding a toy knife to the neck of a co-worker at an amusement park with the caption “I wish”.

2011年，安東尼•埃羅尼斯(Anthony Elonis)因四次傳播威脅性內容而被定罪。他在社交媒體網絡Facebook上大放厥詞，稱要殺死自己的妻子——在上傳的一張照片中，他手握一把玩具刀指向遊樂場一名同僚的脖子，同時配上文字稱“我希望”(I wish)。

Mr Elonis argued that he was under emotional duress after his wife of nearly seven years left with their two children and that he was merely venting through Facebook.

埃羅尼斯辯稱，他與妻子結婚近7年，當妻子帶着他們的兩個孩子離開之後，他感到很鬱悶，他只不過是通過Facebook泄憤。

The Supreme Court, in a 7-2 decision, threw out his conviction on Monday, ruling that the jury was not properly instructed in the case. The US high court said that it was not enough for the government to establish that a “reasonable” person would have viewed Mr Elonis’s posts as threatening.

週一，美國最高法院以7票贊同、2票反對的比例，推翻了他被判的罪名。最高法院認定，陪審團在該案中對案情掌握不當。最高法院表示，美國政府沒有足夠證據證明一位“有理性的”人會把埃羅尼斯的發言視爲威脅。

In a narrow ruling that dodged the First Amendment issues some free speech advocates expected the court to address, the justices found that the government must show that a defendant intended their posts to be threatening, or at least understood there was a possibility they would be viewed as a crime, to be convicted under the federal law barring the transmission of threatening content.

在一份避開了美國憲法第一修正案問題（有些倡導言論自由的人希望法庭提到這些問題）的狹義裁決中，法官們認定，政府必須證明一名被告人故意用言論來發出威脅，或者起碼要明白該言論有可能被視爲一項犯罪行爲，唯有這樣，才能依據阻止傳播威脅性內容的聯邦法律對其定罪。