Illegal Tweeting
By Amy E. Feldman
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - From the "never have an unexpressed thought department" comes the question: is it legal to live tweet from a sports event?
When an Olympic triple jumper from Greece was suspended from the Greek Olympic team because of a racist tweet she sent (mental note: West Nile virus jokes, never funny), she then said - but didn't tweet – that she was bitter and angry.
Ironic that the country known as the birthplace of democracy doesn't care so much about freedom of speech. Guess what, all you "In America we have our first amendment rights" types: you, too, can be disciplined for your tweets at sports events.
The Constitution says that the government is prevented from abridging your right to freedom of speech. Neither the sports arena where you're watching a game nor sports team who makes big bucks granting exclusive broadcast rights to those who pay to report are prevented from asking you to leave if you live tweet. The Detroit Lions have banned writers from live-tweeting what happens in practice.
And, if you're a player, don't think about tweeting during practice or a game - and never ever tweet crass, racist, or other insensitive remarks or the next tweet will announce an opening on your former team's roster.
