Secret Service investigating Facebook poll on Obama

Facebook, a social networking site, recently pulled an application that allowed users to create polls after a site member made a poll asking if President Obama should be killed or not. Facebook users are allowed to create polls and quizzes and the creators of these polls and quizzes may choose to make them available to the whole public of Facebook or just to their friends on Facebook. Over the weekend, a user made a poll asking whether Obama should be killed and made it available to the general public. The US Secret Service has launched an investigation. Facebook spokesman, Barry Schnitt, said the application "was immediately suspended while the inappropriate content could be removed by the developer and until such time as the developer institutes better procedures to monitor their user-generated content."

It's obvious that if you make a poll asking if someone should be killed over the internet, you're going to get in some kind of trouble. It doesn't matter if it's Obama or anybody else, there's going to be consequences. Having the privilege to be on the internet and on Facebook also includes responsibilty. As Thomas Jefferson said, "There is no freedom without responsibility." If you can't be responsible on the internet, then that freedom should be taken away. I can also see the other side of it, that some kid was just messing around and posted a poll without thinking. But in my opinion, asking if someone should die or not, is crossing the line. It is a big deal, and I think there should be consequences, but I don't think the USSS needs to get involved over a Facebook poll.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/09/28/facebook.poll/index.html?eref=rss_politics