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If a tweet declares war, is it treason to take it down?

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Re: If a tweet declares war, is it treason to take it down?

#21

Post by benj111 »

tptacek wrote: post #3

No, for assistance to an enemy to be treasonable, war must actually have been declared, and only Congress can declare war. Actually waging war on the US is treasonable without a Congressional declaration, but the definition depends on a state of "open war" in which you're part of a recognized assembled group of people engaged in open armed hostilities. The short answer to almost all these kinds of questions is "it's…

"Actually waging war on the US is treasonable without a Congressional declaration"

I'm trying to parse this.

Waging war on behalf of the US?

Re: If a tweet declares war, is it treason to take it down?

#23

Post by tptacek »

benj111 wrote: post #21
tptacek wrote: post #3

No, for assistance to an enemy to be treasonable, war must actually have been declared, and only Congress can declare war. Actually waging war on the US is treasonable without a Congressional declaration, but the definition depends on a state of "open war" in which you're part of a recognized assembled group of people engaged in open armed hostilities. The short answer to almost all these kinds of questions is "it's…

"Actually waging war on the US is treasonable without a Congressional declaration" I'm trying to parse this. Waging war on behalf of the US?

No. According to the Constitution, treason is either (1) levying war against the United States or (2) adhering to enemies of the US. To commit treason through aiding an enemy, war must be declared.

Re: If a tweet declares war, is it treason to take it down?

#25

Post by catalogia »

tomatotomato37 wrote: post #15

The early conversation here seems to focus more on US procedures and government branches than Twitter's responsibilities but Twitter is not just accessible to US world leaders. What would happen if some Middle Eastern monarch used the service to declare war on a neighboring country. I think even the UK still does war declaration from only the Queen, how should Twitter respond to it then?

How could an American company commit treason in a foreign country? Treason in a country you aren't a citizen of, in a country you have no moral, ethical or logical obligation to be loyal to, seems nonsensical. If country A invades country B, country A isn't committing treason against country B. Treason isn't just some word meant to describe "anything a country dislikes".

Re: If a tweet declares war, is it treason to take it down?

#26

Post by Retric »

tptacek wrote: post #18
Retric wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You can be convicted of treason without a war being declared. Walter Allen being the most obvious case. https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/205 What makes this case so interesting is it was treason vs a specific state not the entire USA.

See my original comment on this thread. The definition of "declared or open war", the conditions required in the US, go back into English Common Law.

We can quibble about the open war vs the entire US on that one, but here conspiracy is also considered sufficient grounds. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Burr_conspiracy Though not convicted, that was a question of evidence rather than if conspiracy was sufficient grounds for a conviction.

Re: If a tweet declares war, is it treason to take it down?

#28

Post by libbyc5 »

tptacek wrote: post #3

No, for assistance to an enemy to be treasonable, war must actually have been declared, and only Congress can declare war. Actually waging war on the US is treasonable without a Congressional declaration, but the definition depends on a state of "open war" in which you're part of a recognized assembled group of people engaged in open armed hostilities. The short answer to almost all these kinds of questions is "it's…

> The short answer to almost all these kinds of questions is "it's never treason".

Fine, but is it RICO?

Re: If a tweet declares war, is it treason to take it down?

#29

Post by t0mbstone »

akersten wrote: post #14
caiocaiocaio wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You and me have an extremely different definition of personal vendetta!

That's fair, "vendetta" is too strong of a word. "Personal bias" is better-suited. It's just hard to read a post calling them "internet vampires" and still assume a neutral author.

But Twitter has objectively proven themselves to be "celebrity vampires" by selectively applying different sets of rules to celebrities than to common people.

For example, it is against Twitter's official rules (https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/twitter-rules) for a user to use their platform to say hateful or racist things, and they regularly ban people for violating those conditions, but they they regularly allow famous people (like the President of the USA) to get away with violating many of those rules.

Why does Twitter let Trump (and many other famous people) get away with breaking the rules? Because Twitter directly benefits from the viewers and the outrage.

Acknowledging that fact (and yes, it is a provable fact) hardly means someone has a personal vendetta against Twitter.

Re: If a tweet declares war, is it treason to take it down?

#30

Post by benj111 »

tptacek wrote: post #23
benj111 wrote: post #21

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Actually waging war on the US is treasonable without a Congressional declaration" I'm trying to parse this. Waging war on behalf of the US?

No. According to the Constitution, treason is either (1) levying war against the United States or (2) adhering to enemies of the US. To commit treason through aiding an enemy, war must be declared.

If the state of Benjiovia waged war on the US, would that be treason? Because that's what you seem to be saying. And why would congress issue a declaration allowing me to do that???
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