Court: Elected Officials Can’t Block Critics from Social Media Pages
You’ve seen the stories, right? Cheeto Jesus blocks everyone on Twitter who disagrees with him. That happen to you? How about Ted Cruz, Greg Abbott, Sid Miller, and many other social conservatives? If they don’t like you calling their BS on social media BS on social media, they just block you. You can’t respond beyond screaming at your screen.
Welp, kids, those days are now coming to an end. The federal court in the District of Eastern Virginia ruled this week that elected officials who use their social media accounts for governmental purposes (announcements, constituent services, ranting against opponents, etc.) then that social media page becomes an official government form of communication. If that elected official, or his staff, blocks you for criticizing that elected official, your free speech rights have been violated. The case, Davison v. Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, involves the chair of the board who uses Facebook to communicate to people in the county and is also administered by her chief of staff. One of the chair’s critics, who had accused her of corruption, was banned from her Facebook page for saying so. The banned person, Brian Davison, sued, claiming infringement of his First Amendment right to free speech, and has now won at the federal level. More importantly, the court also found that, by condoning the use of Facebook for official county government communications, that the county government entity is also liable. This ruling establishes a precedent and is HHHUUUUGGGGEE.
So, has Deep Fryer Sid banned you from his Facebook page for mocking his silly (or hateful) posts? You can now go after him and demand reinstatement. Cheeto Jesus has banned thousands of critics. Under this new ruling, he must reinstate those people back to his Twitter account. If he doesn’t, the US Government is responsible for protecting your First Amendment rights that he, as an elected official, has infringed.
The old axiom, “Live by the Sword, Die by the Sword”, comes to mind here. If elected officials choose to use social media to communicate directly to constituents, then they can no longer dictate who’s allowed to respond, at least according to this ruling, which has established a precedent for free speech. Will this go to the Supreme Court? Maybe, and we’ll see what happens; but in the meantime, start demanding reinstatement by politicians who don’t want to hear from you.
You know what to do next.
Thanks for the information.
1This may be the one thing that can get Drumpf off twitter.
2This almost sounds like the dog that actually caught a car and then did not know what to do with it. The Barking Yam really does prize his tweet power as long as critics are jammed but he has to deal with the “car” now after the court ruling. Can I tell you a secret? He ain’t gonna damn like it and will do that psychotic 2 year old thing to get his way but it ain’t gonna work.
3I might just get a tweeter account.
4OT, but there is a Twitter connection.
A number of us here also follow Jim Wright, at Stonekettle Station. If you enjoy him, you should check out Eric Garland, who posts some truly magnificent tweet threads. Here’s his latest:
https://twitter.com/ericgarland/status/891032446715781121
5The most notable block was when Trump blocked Vote Vets. This will put tens of thousands of voices back on his feed.
6I’m in Hawaii.
7It’s just after sunrise here.
I love the smell of 1st Amendment in the morning.
I shared the following with Sheila Kennedy’s readers and I thought I’d share it with you while the national parks are still there:
You may want to let your readers 62-over know that they can get a Lifetime Senior Pass to all national parks/monuments right now for $10 by going in person to any Visitor Center in any national park. It’s more expensive online ($20, still a bargain!) because of the extra $10 processing fee. http://www.nps.gov. The price soars to $80 for the pass beginning August 28, 2017. You’ve got a month to get this done before the price goes through the roof!
I got my pass at Shiloh National Military Park near Corinth, MS. It stays in my vehicle. The pass comes with a hangtag and a plastic card for the owner to sign, insert on the hangtag, and display on the rear-view mirror at any national park/monument. Act now for this incredible bargain…while we still have our beautiful national parks. You-know-who is in charge right now, so the parks and everything else in the environment is at risk. Now git!
8Thank goodness for the Courts. At least one branch is working.
9@Betty
My little bride and I heard about the lifetime senior pass first only about two weeks ago. We drove the next day to a nearby Corps of Engineers lake, bought one for each of us and toured the lake a bit. My informer is a history professor cousin who uses his pass to travel from place to place in his motor home, staying in national parks and Corps lakes along the way. Great bargain.
10Ironic in a way, but I must give credit where credit is due. Most remarkably, Skullanus Wrongway has not blocked me on twitter. In my defense, I did keep my comments polite and Mama safe, while not conceding any of the points I wanted to make. To her credit, Kellyanne accepted my tweets. Zero credit to Donnie and his hiding behind women, children and a barrage of b()sh!t to protect his ever thin so orange skin.
El Jefe, the courts did get this one right. Accounts used for official purposes, funded with taxpayer money, etc., yeah buddy, our access is protected.
11The Twitterverse has been crowing about this since the moment the ruling dropped. It was almost a sign of stardom to be banned by Orange Whore, but those folks are salivating to get directly back on his feed. I’ve never followed him and I sure don’t intend to, but it’s gonna be fun.
12Stephen King was giving Trump h#ll on Twitter until he got banned. Look for that to start up again. Stephen, being a best-selling author, knows all the best words.
13JK Rowling does a wonderful job of ripping into Orange Whore too. Writers have all the best words, lots of words.
14Betty @8,
Mahalo, Tusen Takk
That NPS Senior Pass is a very good deal indeed.
15The extra $10 for doing it online is trivial (took me just a few minutes on a slooooooooow throttled connection). Unless you live right next to a park, it’ll cost you more in fuel and aggro to travel to a parks office to get one.
The Pass has lots of other perks besides just admission, for example, an admission lets in a vehicle-load of others with you for free too.
Check out the features, sign up, etc., at this direct link here:
Senior Pass
https://www.nps.gov/planyourvisit/senior-pass-changes.htm?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=website&utm_campaign=senior_pass
DANGER, DANGER Will Robinson. When I read this post earlier, my first reaction was game changer. In a good way. Evidently like most folks here. But then my probably paranoid condition kicked in, and some other possibilities occurred to me. Our folks have probably blocked some Twitter users too. Albeit for much more legitimate reasons. (death threats, horribly racial, misogynistic rhetoric, etc.) So you’ve gotta wonder how much of that garbage is going to be released upon the twittersphere, along with ours. And not just against Donnie’s current punching bags. Every single person of the Democratic persuasion who has a Twitter account. Federal, State, and local. So, I hope democratic operatives are ready for this. Luckily for us, there’s not been any foreign entity with a century’s worth of experience in espionage, regime change, and recent experience in cyber-warfare who has shown an interest in our affairs……..wait.
16Got my late husband a Senior National Park pass for one of his birthdays. We journeyed once to a national park and were amazed at all the work it needed! They are truly understaffed, especially for the hordes that visit. the vistas are magnificent but a close up look is something else. We never went again and we were both truly saddened about that. We love the great outdoors. Now that land is up for a kill-shot by private industry for logging, mining and drilling. I hope that Teddy Roosevelt is not just whirling in his grave but digging a tunnel, first stop the White House, next the Department of the Interior!
17The Reagan-appointed judge in this case announced on May 27, 201, that he is retiring at the age of 84. That’s no liberal decision that the Supreme Court can write off or dismiss.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/public-safety/virginias-longest-serving-federal-judge-set-to-retire-this-fall/2017/05/27/7fd74e1c-3f20-11e7-8c25-44d09ff5a4a8_story.html?utm_term=.21320209df7a
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