Death Threats on the Internet
<p>I recently read a bunch of stories about people making shooting/bomb threats on the internet and being arrested for it. These are often written in a matter-of-fact way.</p>
<p>But I know I have also seen people also make death threats in a joking context, and I am just wondering if even these people are putting themselves at a great risk, were the FBI contacted.</p>
<p>For example,</p>
<p>If someone tweets, &quot;Found an olive in my subway sandwich, gonna go [COMMIT CRIME TO SUBWAY].&quot;</p>
<p><a href="https://i.imgur.com/BuM9yFN_d.webp?maxwidth=640&amp;shape=thumb&amp;fidelity=medium" rel="noreferrer">What about something like this which I remember seeing?</a></p>
<p>Or what about death threats to individuals? I know people, especially women, talk about getting death/rape threats online. Would the police actually do anything about these cases, if it's a person being threatened and not a school or other building?</p>

<p>I don't think there is any way to determine the magnitude of the risk. It is certainly a federal crime – <a href="https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/18/875" rel="noreferrer">18 USC 875(c)</a>. The FBI doesn't publicly disavow the possibility of an investigation in cases that you might think are hyperbolic speech. There is the case of <a href="https://www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/14pdf/13-983_7l48.pdf" rel="noreferrer">Elonis v. US</a>, who was investigated and prosecuted for &quot;making threats&quot; – focusing on the statutory language</p>
<blockquote>
<p>transmits in interstate or foreign commerce any communication
containing any threat</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Defendant argued that <em>threat</em>  &quot;conveys the
notion of an intent to inflict harm&quot;, but the court disagreed with both prosecution and defense w.r.t. a mental state requirement in the statute. The court explores various <em>scienter</em> requirements, and concludes that there is a mens rea component to the crime (this is not a strict liability crime). The basis for the appeal is that defendant wanted an jury instruction read saying that &quot;the government must prove that he intended to communicate a true threat&quot;, and what the jury was told was that</p>
<blockquote>
<p>A statement is a true threat when a defendant intentionally makes a
statement in a context or under such circumstances wherein a
reasonable person would foresee that the statement would be
interpreted by those to whom the maker communicates the statement as a
serious expression of an intention to inflict bodily injury or take
the life of an individual</p>
</blockquote>
<p>The court rejected importation of the negligence-law &quot;reasonable person&quot; standard, when the question for criminal law should be &quot;awareness&quot;. The standard for conviction is that &quot;wrongdoing must be conscious to be
criminal&quot;.</p>
<p>As for investigations, law enforcement can investigate the <em>possibility</em> that a literal threat corresponds to an awareness in the utterer's mind that this is a real threat. When the prosecution makes the case in court, they would have to prove beyond reasonable doubt that in the defendant's mind, he intended to make a true threat. Based on the snippet that you posted, there is reasonable doubt as to there being a true threat.</p>

<p><a href="/questions/tagged/czech-republic" class="post-tag" title="show questions tagged &#39;czech-republic&#39;" aria-label="show questions tagged &#39;czech-republic&#39;" rel="tag" aria-labelledby="czech-republic-container">czech-republic</a></p>
<p>Those people are putting themselves at the risk that their threats, even implied, will be viewed seriously.</p>
<p>In October 2022, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/PolicieCZ/posts/5975211365862892" rel="nofollow noreferrer">the police interrogated a person making threats online</a>. On a Facebook event for a public gathering, that person commented &quot;at least I know where to go with a submachine gun thanks&quot;.</p>
<p>The police Facebook page wrote about this:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Yesterday he wrote a hateful comment on a social network. Today, he sat in for questioning at the Department of Extremism and Terrorism of the Prague Police. He faces up to a year in prison for violence against a group of people and individuals.</p>
</blockquote>

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