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.