The 2012 Olympics are underway. For Greeks, the opening ceremonies are exciting and a proud moment. But this year it was different for me. News coverage of the triple-jumper Voula Papachristou dominated the headlines and overshadowed the long-anticipated glory of the opening ceremonies.
Coverage of Papachristou went viral after she was booted for her tasteless tweet: “With so many Africans in Greece, the West Nile mosquitoes will be getting home food!!!”
Clayton Hardiman, a columnist for the Muskegon Chronicle, in his column, “Free speech isn’t free of consequences” hit the nail on the head. He writes: “But often the people who shout the loudest about freedom of speech are the quickest to confuse it with freedom from consequences.”
As a journalist, I am someone who firmly believes in freedom of speech. It is mandatory to be able to voice your opinion. However, there are two sides to every debate. And in this case I am reminded of one of my favorite quotes: “the pen is mightier than the sword.” The world of Twitter is instant communication of the power of the pen or in this case tweet. Think Arab Spring and the power of twitter to overthrow regimes.
Voula’s racist comment didn’t topple dictators but her unabashed tweet befell her own downfall. Lifelong dreams dashed in an instant.
I applaud Hardiman’s column that yes, there are consequences.
So choose your words because you are what you tweet.
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