Seven inmates at Kershaw correctional institution, South Carolina have been given at least 1000 days each in solitary confinement amounting to a total of twenty years. Their offence? The men who are serving sentences for crimes ranging from manslaughter to robbery recorded a six minute music video and uploaded it to WorldHipHop where it went viral. They have also seen privileges taken away, including visitation hours.
They were also sentenced for possessing the phone, which was considered contraband In addition to the rap video - which was viewed more than a million times online - the men were punished for producing 'security threat group' materials.
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has however come to the men's defence saying the video was a work of art and no rules were broken. However, prison officials said the inmates were guilty of creating or assisting with a social network - as well as possessing contraband - something that can be used to deadly effect by prisoners.
Earlier this year, as many as 400 prisoners at Kershaw Correctional Institution were handed the punishment for using Facebook - or for asking a friend to update their profile for them, it found. And in October 2013, one prisoner, Tyheem Henry, was sentenced to more than 37 years in disciplinary detention - as well as numerous lost privileges - for 38 posts on the social network.
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