Internet Forums and Self-Incrimination

Nowadays there are forums and other expressive outlets everywhere on the internet catering to nearly every interest. However, the internet is not as safe a place as it once was in terms of expression. With the erosion of civil liberties occurring piece-by-piece via our government, it is important to be careful about what you publish in public internet forums. When I'm talking about forums, I'm generally talking about ones dealing with currently illegal acts such as using controlled substances or performing acts like music or video piracy. I'm not writing this article to blow a whistle on self-expression. I rather want to take this opportunity to educate those who use internet forums about the dangers of self-incrimination.

Self-incrimination is an act in which a person says, writes, or performs some action that could possibly be used as evidence against them in a criminal charge. For example, if you are on a forum devoted to marijuana and post pictures of you taking a bong rip at home, you're in danger of self-incrimination. Although you are free to express yourself online in whatever way you see fit, it does not mean that certain actions can't come back to bite you in the ass. I don't work for the Drug Enforcement Agency, so I don't know how much they actually monitor on forum sites like this. But it certainly doesn't hurt to be careful in order to avoid self-incrimination or a possible criminal charge against you. Here are a few guidelines to follow.

Do NOT post images of you performing illegal acts in forums on the internet. These illegal acts could include using controlled substances like marijuana or psilocybin, beating the shit out of someone, or vandalizing public or private property. These are a big no no, and are the straightest ticket to self-incrimination. It's not even really a good idea to post images of things like your marijuana stash, your glass pipe, or a pipe bomb you happened to make. Even if you don't appear in these pictures with the items, you could possibly still be in danger of self-incrimination by posting them to a public site. Webmasters can trace IP addresses on forums, and if certain legislation is passed, they might be forced to turn over information about clients if government agents suspect illegality. So, even though the temptation might be huge to impress your forum with pictures of your titanic three-foot long glass bong, you should probably refrain from doing so.

Images and video aren't the only means of self-incrimination. You can potentially incriminate yourself in criminal activity if you write about doing it. It's true that there are millions of internet posts and forums out there where people write about everything from kittens to weed, so it seems unlikely that any authority would pore through them trying to find some dirt. However, once again it is a good idea to avoid even the remotest possibility of self-incrimination. Do not use "my," "myself," "I," or "me" when writing about an illegal act you might have performed. In general, stay away from the first person. The accepted means of avoiding self-incrimination through writing on forums is to use the acronym "SWIM." This is short for "someone who isn't me," and is a useful tool in allowing you to say what you want but still protect you from legal recourse.

I'm not trying to scare people, encourage illegal behavior, or discourage illegal behavior. The purpose of this article was to educate forum users about the dangers of self-incrimination and how to avoid that prospect. If you follow these guidelines, then you won't really have much to worry about and can continue to express your first amendment rights and individuality on the internet.