Giving your opinion on politics or complaining about the boss to your friends via Facebook is so commonplace and rampant that few people probably stop to think about the consequences of their posting. Less thought is given to the magnitude of a Facebook user “liking” something — a photo, a status update, a fan page, etc. Yet, these actions can have very significant consequences for the person behind such activity. The legal realm is still adapting to the changing landscape of social media with somewhat incongruous legal results, depending on who your employer is and, in some cases, exactly what your Facebook or other social media activity was.
SPEECH PROTECTION FOR GOVERNMENT WORKERS
For instance, Facebook use and freedom of speech are at the center of a highly publicized legal battle in Virginia. In that case, titled Bland v. Roberts, government employees of the local sheriff were fired when it was discovered that they openly supported the sheriff’s election opponent, in part because one of the employees “liked” the opponent’s Facebook page. The trial court ruled that “liking” something on Facebook is not protected free speech under the First Amendment. The case is now on appeal, and Facebook has filed an amicus brief, arguing that “liking” a political candidate is a form of verbal expression and/or symbolic expression similar to other constitutionally symbolic expressions such as wearing an armband or even burning the American flag. According to these groups, such activity should be protected as a substantive statement of political support. The fact that the decision ruling against protecting the activity as free speech has been so highly publicized illustrates the direction of the First Amendment with regard to social media.
