🏳️🌈🖖🏽
There’s a term “stochastic terrorism” when someone triggers others to act so can claim he had nothing to do with it. The law isn’t good at stopping this. But Trump is now a criminal defendant, subject to limitations. Courts must now use their power to stop his online terrorism.
@georgetakei "The law isn't good at stopping this" because it's explicitly protected under the 1st amendment...
@LouisIngenthron @georgetakei Not ALL speech is protected. Inciting a riot or insurrection is illegal; stochastic terrorism might be viewed as inciting a distributed riot.
https://www.criminaldefenselawyer.com/resources/inciting-to-riot-violence-or-insurrection.html
Not a lawyer &c.
@peterdrake @georgetakei Incitement and stochastic terrorism are two different things. Incitement, in US law at least, requires a four-pronged test; the speech has to be (1) intended to, and (2) understood by a reasonable person to direct others to commit (3) imminent (4) lawless action.
Stochastic terrorism, on the other hand, is just fueling people's grievances until they act on their own violent impulses.
One is criminal. The other is protected speech.
@LouisIngenthron @peterdrake @georgetakei so Trump’s January 6th speech is incitement, but most of his deranged speech is neither?
@MattFerrel @peterdrake @georgetakei I think the J6 commission laid out a pretty compelling argument that his speech on that day was incitement, yes.
But I think most of his speech does fall under stochastic terrorism. He actively seeks to demonize his opponents with fiery rhetoric, which is textbook stochastic terrorism.
