On Tuesday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of a man convicted of repeatedly insulted a woman on social networks, and stated that the First Amendment protects free speech for spammers as long as they do not pose a threat.

In a ruling approved by seven votes in favor and two against, Judges declared wrong the decision of the lower court, which sentenced him to four and a half years in prison Billy Counterman, a Colorado resident, stalked Coles Whalen, a Denver songwriter, on Facebook for nearly two years.

Counterman sent numerous messages to the artist through various accounts created on the platform in order to get a response in order to set up a meeting with her, although the woman blocked all his attempts. “You are at odds with relationships. Die, I don’t need you“He said in one of the messages in the face of the disappointment that his silence caused.

The singer, out of fear of her stalker, tried to take additional measures such as hire extra security or cancel some shows. “I used to tamper with telephone lines,” read another message sent by a man, he picked up the chain NBCNews.

Calling the reports “creepy,” the singer-songwriter denounced the case in 2016, after which Counterman was found guilty of one count of harassment. The verdict was upheld on appeal.leading to a request for Supreme Court intervention.

State prosecutors say the conviction was based not only on Counterman’s most threatening messages, but others that hinted at man watching womanbecause he told her that he saw her driving a white jeep and that he saw her leaving the house with her partner.

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In its ruling, the Supreme Court defined threats as those statements in which a person intends to “commit an act of violence”, known in US law as “direct threats”.

Man only loses his right to the First Amendment – which guarantees freedom of expression – if it is confirmed that the language is deliberately used to achieve a certain goal, it picks up the line CNN. (Europe Press)