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Arriving as a slice of news that could redefine the parameters of harassment while also enforcing the notion that our American cousins are absolute fruitcakes, a Facebook user in Tennessee has been arrested after ‘poking’ another social network user.
Facebook pokin\' can get ya doin\' pokey! Image: Facebook.
Facebook’s popular ‘poke’ application works much like a playful elbow to the virtual ribs in order to gain the attention of a friend, associate or family member – but involves no direct messaging. However, the apparent triviality of poking has left 36-year-old Shannon Jackson facing prison after she was arrested on suspicion of violating a restraining order.
More pointedly, the (unnamed) recipient of Jackson’s poke contacted the police with the belief that the online approach fell within the boundaries of a ban preventing “telephoning, contacting or otherwise communicating with the petitioner.”
Local newspaper The Tennessean reports that attending police in the town of Hendersonville have taken possession of screen captures proving that the poke was indeed sent by Jackson and received by the complainant.
Amazingly, if a subsequent court ruling finds that the rudimentary poke-based gesture was sufficient to have violated the protection order placed against Jackson, the wayward Facebook user could find herself slapped with a $2,500 USD fine and up to a year of incarceration.
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