The following is intended to serve as a delineation of the rights afforded by the United States Constitution which are either partially or completely circumvented by Social Media's Courts of Public Opinion.
The Sixth Amendment among other things affords citizens the right to know the nature of the charges and evidence presented against them. This means that secret evidence obtained by industrial espionage against a customer cannot be used in the course of pursuing justice against that person.
The Sixth Amendment also affords citizens the right to a speedy and public trial by an impartial jury from the district in which the crime was committed. Needless to say, none of this is afforded by corporate law, nor by vigilantism. And in their absence, no reasonable amount of justice can possibly be expected.
The Fifth Amendment among other things forbids that a citizen be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without Due Process of Law. In other words, an unruly Internet lynch mob has no jurisdiction, and thusly no right, to harm an individual in any way, no matter how seemingly damning the evidence against him or her might be.
The Fifth Amendment also dictates that no person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury. In other words, corporate law has no jurisdiction whatsoever over the prosecution of anyone for criminal conduct.
The Fourth Amendment protects the rights of the citizenry to their privacy, which can only be violated by the government, and even then only upon the issuance of a warrant based upon the establishment of Probable Cause. This is by far the most egregious circumvention of Constitutional law by Social Media, whose entire business model is founded upon illegal espionage against the common man.
The Eighth Amendment forbids the use of cruel and unusual punishment. This applies to any crime, whether real or imagined, whether alleged or proven, and whether resulting from violations of government or corporate law. If a person's financial assets are seized, or their reputation ruined, or crippling and insurmountable debts incurred, particularly as a result of hearsay or gossip, this Amendment is applicable.
And therein are but a handful of the self-evident rights of Man which have been, and continue to be, swept aside by the world of Social Media.
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