How would Tiberius have used Facebook

I have been reflecting on the time of Tiberius in ancient Rome.  Tacitus in his book the Annals paints a bleak picture of that time in Rome and the degeneration of language and politics in that time.  What it made me wonder about was how Tiberius would have used Facebook. The question is not an idle one. The reason I pose this question was that Tiberius introduce a treason law that allowed him to punish his political enemies. Yet, the problem was deeper than his direct action through the law. Instead, what was deeply problematic was the effect it had on the already weakened political culture within Rome.   The law was so vague that nearly anything said, or potentially thought (if found out), could be used against the alleged perpetrator.  As a result, all the statements and actions in public, and, potentially, in private became suspect.

Now, we look at Facebook and Google and their ability to look into our lives. How soon before we become face to face with similar fate?  Are we now beginning to experience with the desire to develop a right to be forgotten?  Businesses and future employers are looking through the internet to see if their current or future employees have said something inappropriate. However, the issue goes deeper than that as governments, like the United States, begin to scan social media sites for the discussion.  The overriding goal appears to be national security, but it sets a dangerous precedent to justify these programmes in the name of "national security".  The lessons from Rome should be foremost in our minds as these and other social media programmes are developed.

Yet, the question to ask is who is learning about ancient Rome? Who is being taught Tacitus so that they can use language to defend liberty and themselves from tyrants?  Have we lost the education in liberty needed to remain free in thought and deed?  We are entering a brave new world and it remains to be seen whether technology will be any better at restraining human nature than the laws of nature and nature's god have been able to for the past 3000 years.  We may have liberty and freedom of speech, yet, it requires our memory to remind us that these rights are hard won and easily lost.