Professor Joh Publishes Essay in Slate on Assault via Twitter

Professor Elizabeth Joh published an essay in Slate regarding whether a supporter of Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump could face criminal charges for sending a tweet that included a seizure-inducing video to Kurt Eichenwald, a journalist who suffers from epilepsy.

Although the reporter was not harmed in the incident, the person who sent the video could be charged with assault, which in most definitions includes “the intentional creation of a reasonable apprehension of imminent bodily harm,” Joh writes. According to this definition, a person can be charged with assault for pointing an unloaded gun at another, if he succeeds in convincing the other person that he is about to be shot, she explains.

“Had this Twitter troll walked up to Eichenwald and pointed what appeared to be a loaded gun at the journalist, most would agree that the troll would be guilty of assault,” writes Joh. “Had the troll walked up to Eichenwald and surprised him with a tablet displaying the video, the result would likely be the same. After all, not all weapons are guns.  It’s the same thing with the tweet—the distance does not change the analysis.”

Professor Joh writes and teaches in criminal law and procedure; her scholarship has addressed the impact of new technologies on policing, privacy concerns raised by forensic DNA collection, and undercover policing.