Public officials can be held liable for blocking critics on social media

Photo caption: The justices ruled in Lindke v. Freed and O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier on Friday. Photo credit: Thomas Hawk via Flickr. Article by Amy Howe. SCOTUS Blog – March 15, 2024. Originally published at Howe on the Court.

The Supreme Court on Friday ruled that public officials who post about topics relating to their work on their personal social media accounts are acting on behalf of the government, and therefore can be held liable for violating the First Amendment when they block their critics, only when they have the power to speak on behalf of the state and are actually exercising that power. […]

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