first published week of:   05/01/2023

SCOTUS Will Decide Whether Public Officials Can Block Naysayers on Social Media

by Nikki Main

SCOTUS will hear two cases this fall looking at whether public figures can block social media users for posting criticism on their accounts.

The U.S. Supreme Court will hear two First Amendment rights cases this fall after San Diego board members blocked parents for raising concerns on their social media accounts. A second case was filed against the city manager in Port Huron, Michigan for blocking a resident who raised Covid-19 concerns on his Facebook page. In both cases, the courts sided with the plaintiffs, but the defendants appealed to the Supreme Court which agreed on Monday to pick up the cases.

In the case of O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier, Michelle O’Connor-Ratcliff and T.J. Zane said two elected board members, Christopher Garnier and Kimberly Garnier, blocked them on their social media accounts after raising concerns about racial relations at the local school. The board members claimed the parents posted the same comment 42 times, amounting to spam, but O’Connor-Ratcliff and Zane say blocking them violated their right to free speech.

 Read full story at Gizmodo…

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