[liberationtech] Facebook ‘likes’ used as evidence of material support for terrorism

[Douglas Lucas]

Here is an article about the 4 US residents in question:
http://www.cnn.com/2012/11/20/us/afghanistan-taliban/index.html

Here is the indictment PDF:
http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/case_docs/2070.pdf

According to the PDF, defendants "conspired to provide material support
and resources, including but not limited to property, services, and
personnel, including themselves, knowing and intending that they be used
in preparation for, and in carrying out, crimes of terrorism in
violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 2339A."

The indictment uses (among other things) social media likes/shares as
evidence that there is "probable cause to believe" defendants violated
the law, but, from what I can discern, does not say the likes/shares
themselves constituted material support per se. From my inexpert reading
of the indictment, it suggests that (there is probable cause to believe
that) the defendants themselves constituted the material support. Sort
of a strange existential distinction there...

Somebody who has more legal knowledge than I might be able to comment on
this more usefully.

On 11/28/2012 01:40 PM, Mohammad Shublaq wrote:
> Facebook ‘likes’ used as evidence of material support for terrorism
> 
> http://www.fightbacknews.org/2012/11/27/facebook-likes-used-evidence-material-support-terrorism