With the easy accessibility of social media and YouTube, disgruntled custody litigants have many platforms available to them to voice their discontent with court decisions. Can a court impose a gag order on parents from publicly voicing their opinions and dissatisfaction with court decisions? Is the impact of such public airing of grievances on children a factor in the imposition of a gag order? And what about the impact on the other parent?

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court addressed this very issue in the case of S.B. v. S.S. decided Dec. 22, 2020. The mother in this custody case and her attorney posted a YouTube video in which her lawyer gave a press conference criticizing the trial court’s ruling. The trial court entered a gag order preventing the mother and her attorney from publicizing the case given the sensitive nature of the mother’s allegations that were found to be not credible—sexual abuse by the father.

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