Twitter Twits

   Social media are a wonderful thing, enabling users to send their thoughts unfiltered to all their friends and family -- indeed, to the entire world -- with no editors to decide what's important or newsworthy and what's not.
   In some ways, this is good. There are no government censors or self-appointed monitors to restrict, prevent, or limit publication of what people want to say.
   At the same time, there's no solid way to separate truth from innuendo, misleading suggestions, libel or lies from the neutral and objective reports by responsible journalists.
   "Congress shall make no law .. abridging the freedom or speech, or of the press ... " goes the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. There are, of course, practical limitations to this freedom. It is against the law, for instance, to yell "Fire!" in a crowded theater when there is no fire. And the laws of libel protect citizens from false statements that damage their reputations.
   The downside is that these laws only provide for punishment after the act. Unless the perpetrator of a libel can be identified and located, there is little recourse for the victim.
   Anonymity, then, is the core of the Internet problem.
   The Twitter twits who hide behind this curtain are in effect yelling "Fire!" in a metaphorical theater.