Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

Diplomacy or Submission? The Zionist Grip on US Political Power and Trump’s Uneasy Alliance With Netanyahu

18 minutes ago

Fresno Suspect Caught After Jumping Out of Second-Floor Window, 2 Others Arrested

21 hours ago

Tesla Has Applied to Arizona for Robotaxi Service Certification, State Transport Department Says

21 hours ago

Evacuations Ongoing as San Luis Obispo’s Madre Fire Scorches Tens of Thousands of Acres

21 hours ago

US Senate to Vote on Trump Aid, Broadcasting Cuts as Deadline Looms

21 hours ago

US Health Department Widens Immigrant Benefit Restrictions

22 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest Suspect in Stabbing That Left Man Critically Injured

22 hours ago

Madera County Authorities Seek Next of Kin for North Fork Man

22 hours ago

Froot Loops Maker WK Kellogg Agrees to $3.1 Billion Deal From Italy’s Ferrero

23 hours ago

China Signals Willingness to Sell Fighter Jets as Iran Eyes J-10 Aircraft

23 hours ago
Supreme Court Rules Public Officials Can Sometimes Be Sued for Blocking Critics on Social Media
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 1 year ago on
March 15, 2024

Share

The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that public officials can sometimes be sued for blocking critics on social media.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett stated that officials using personal accounts for official statements may not be free to delete comments or block critics.

The court is also evaluating laws in Florida and Texas that prohibit social media companies from taking down posts because of the views they express.


WASHINGTON — A unanimous Supreme Court ruled Friday that public officials can sometimes be sued for blocking their critics on social media, an issue that first arose for the high court in a case involving then-President Donald Trump.

Justice Amy Coney Barrett, writing for the court, said that officials who use personal accounts to make official statements may not be free to delete comments about those statements or block critics altogether.

Private Lives and Constitutional Rights

On the other hand, Barrett wrote, “State officials have private lives and their own constitutional rights.”

The court ruled in two cases involving lawsuits filed by people who were blocked after leaving critical comments on social media accounts belonging to school board members in Southern California and a city manager in Port Huron, Michigan, northeast of Detroit. They are similar to a case involving Trump and his decision to block critics from his personal account on Twitter, now known as X. The justices dismissed the case after Trump left office in January 2021.

Competing Free Speech Rights

The cases forced the court to deal with the competing free speech rights of public officials and their constituents, all in a rapidly evolving virtual world. They are among five social media cases on the court’s docket this term.

Appeals courts in San Francisco and Cincinnati had reached conflicting decisions about when personal accounts become official, and the high court did not embrace either ruling, returning the cases to the appeals courts to apply the standard the justices laid out Friday.

“When a government official posts about job-related topics on social media, it can be difficult to tell whether the speech is official or private,” Barrett said.

Officials must have the authority to speak on behalf of their governments and intend to use it for their posts to be regarded essentially as the government’s, Barrett wrote. In such cases, they have to allow criticism, or risk being sued, she wrote.

Case Studies

In one case, James Freed, who was appointed the Port Huron city manager in 2014, used the Facebook page he first created while in college to communicate with the public, as well as recount the details of daily life.

In 2020, a resident, Kevin Lindke, used the page to comment several times from three Facebook profiles, including criticism of the city’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Freed blocked all three accounts and deleted Lindke’s comments. Lindke sued, but the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals sided with Freed, noting that his Facebook page talked about his roles as “father, husband, and city manager.”

The other case involved two elected members of a California school board, the Poway Unified School District Board of Trustees. The members, Michelle O’Connor-Ratcliff and T.J. Zane, used their personal Facebook and Twitter accounts to communicate with the public. Two parents, Christopher and Kimberly Garnier, left critical comments and replies to posts on the board members’ accounts and were blocked. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals said the board members had violated the parents’ free speech rights by doing so. Zane no longer serves on the school board.

Other Social Media Cases

The court’s other social media cases have a more partisan flavor. The justices are evaluating Republican-passed laws in Florida and Texas that prohibit large social media companies from taking down posts because of the views they express. The tech companies said the laws violate their First Amendment rights. The laws reflect a view among Republicans that the platforms disproportionately censor conservative viewpoints.

Next week, the court is hearing a challenge from Missouri and Louisiana to the Biden administration’s efforts to combat controversial social media posts on topics including COVID-19 and election security. The states argue that the Democratic administration has been unconstitutionally coercing the platforms into cracking down on conservative positions.

The cases decided Friday are O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier, 22-324, and Lindke v. Freed, 22-611.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

State Department Starts Firing More Than 1,350 Workers

DON'T MISS

Senate Panel Approves $500 Million Aid for Ukraine in Defense Bill

DON'T MISS

UN Reports 798 Deaths Near Gaza Aid Hubs in Six Weeks

DON'T MISS

Diplomacy or Submission? The Zionist Grip on US Political Power and Trump’s Uneasy Alliance With Netanyahu

DON'T MISS

Macron Urges UK to Back Palestine Recognition, Ukraine Support in Landmark Visit

DON'T MISS

Bitcoin’s New Record Lifts Industry Stocks Ahead of ‘Crypto Week’ in Washington

DON'T MISS

White House Reviews Mass Federal Layoff Plans, Aims for Swift Action

DON'T MISS

Clovis Man Killed in Fresno County Crash After Running Stop Sign

DON'T MISS

Immigration Raids on California Cannabis Nurseries Spark Protests

DON'T MISS

US Tariff Rate May Be More Than 20% After Latest Round, Global Business Group Says

UP NEXT

Senate Panel Approves $500 Million Aid for Ukraine in Defense Bill

UP NEXT

UN Reports 798 Deaths Near Gaza Aid Hubs in Six Weeks

UP NEXT

Diplomacy or Submission? The Zionist Grip on US Political Power and Trump’s Uneasy Alliance With Netanyahu

UP NEXT

Macron Urges UK to Back Palestine Recognition, Ukraine Support in Landmark Visit

UP NEXT

Bitcoin’s New Record Lifts Industry Stocks Ahead of ‘Crypto Week’ in Washington

UP NEXT

White House Reviews Mass Federal Layoff Plans, Aims for Swift Action

UP NEXT

Clovis Man Killed in Fresno County Crash After Running Stop Sign

UP NEXT

Immigration Raids on California Cannabis Nurseries Spark Protests

UP NEXT

US Tariff Rate May Be More Than 20% After Latest Round, Global Business Group Says

UP NEXT

The White House Aide Driving Trump’s Aggressive Immigration Agenda

Diplomacy or Submission? The Zionist Grip on US Political Power and Trump’s Uneasy Alliance With Netanyahu

18 minutes ago

Macron Urges UK to Back Palestine Recognition, Ukraine Support in Landmark Visit

22 minutes ago

Bitcoin’s New Record Lifts Industry Stocks Ahead of ‘Crypto Week’ in Washington

29 minutes ago

White House Reviews Mass Federal Layoff Plans, Aims for Swift Action

32 minutes ago

Clovis Man Killed in Fresno County Crash After Running Stop Sign

37 minutes ago

Immigration Raids on California Cannabis Nurseries Spark Protests

45 minutes ago

US Tariff Rate May Be More Than 20% After Latest Round, Global Business Group Says

48 minutes ago

The White House Aide Driving Trump’s Aggressive Immigration Agenda

52 minutes ago

Some of Iran’s Enriched Uranium Survived Attacks, Israeli Official Says

16 hours ago

Mahmoud Khalil Seeks $20 Million From Trump Administration Over Immigration Arrest

16 hours ago

State Department Starts Firing More Than 1,350 Workers

WASHINGTON – The State Department began firing more than 1,350 U.S-based employees on Friday as the administration of President Donald...

5 minutes ago

A general view of a U.S. State Department sign, on the day U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio meets with Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto, in Washington, D.C., U.S., March 4, 2025. (Reuters File)
5 minutes ago

State Department Starts Firing More Than 1,350 Workers

A general view of the U.S. Capitol dome in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 8, 2025. (Reuters File)
8 minutes ago

Senate Panel Approves $500 Million Aid for Ukraine in Defense Bill

Smoke rises from Gaza after an explosion, as seen from the Israeli side of the Israel-Gaza border, July 10, 2025. (Reuters File)
11 minutes ago

UN Reports 798 Deaths Near Gaza Aid Hubs in Six Weeks

President Donald Trump welcomes Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the entrance of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., April 7, 2025. (Reuters File)
18 minutes ago

Diplomacy or Submission? The Zionist Grip on US Political Power and Trump’s Uneasy Alliance With Netanyahu

During a landmark state visit to the UK, French President Emmanuel Macron urged British leaders to support Palestinian statehood, strengthen aid to Ukraine, and rebuild Franco-British ties in a post-Brexit era. (Shutterstock)
22 minutes ago

Macron Urges UK to Back Palestine Recognition, Ukraine Support in Landmark Visit

Representations of cryptocurrency Bitcoin are seen in this illustration taken November 25, 2024. (Reuters File)
29 minutes ago

Bitcoin’s New Record Lifts Industry Stocks Ahead of ‘Crypto Week’ in Washington

A view of the White House in Washington, U.S., July 20, 2024. REUTERS/Kevin Mohatt/File Photo
32 minutes ago

White House Reviews Mass Federal Layoff Plans, Aims for Swift Action

fresno
37 minutes ago

Clovis Man Killed in Fresno County Crash After Running Stop Sign

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend