Posting Links on Neighborhood Council Websites
Q: My issue is in the stakeholder councils”, i.e. “neighborhood councils” (see www.freedomadvocates.org for background).
I have attempted to post some informational links on the Neighborhood Council website to offer factual information about redevelopment, stakeholder councils along with the other links they have there, e.g. political party meetings, neighborhood organizations, and “helpful” city agencies but have refused to add my requested links. (www.freedomadvocates.org) and (www.redevelopment.com) Both links are NON-PARTISAN…both are FACTUAL…no rhetoric.
I am not seeking money, I am seeking injunction for my links as a statement of public policy. What do you think my chances are? Do you have case law suggestions? Fed court for declatory judgment first? State court?
A: Under the First Amendment, the general rule is that a publisher has a constitutional right to decide what content to publish. That means, for example, that a newspaper cannot be forced to publish a letter to the editor, or an article submitted for publication on the op-ed pages, or an advertisement. Miami Herald v. Tornillo, 418 U.S. 241 (1974); see Parsons v. New York Post Corp., 427 F. Supp. 1297 (E.D.N.Y. 1977) (denying motion for injunction to force newspaper to publisher advertisement and granting newspaper’s motion to dismiss lawsuit). The reasoning of those cases has been applied to deny motions seeking injunctions to force Google and Yahoo! to display a person’s advertisements on their web sites and/or to include the plaintiff’s web site in their search results. Langdon v. Google, 474 F. Supp. 2d 622 (D. Del. 2007).
While I’m not aware of a case involving an attempt to force a web site to accept links, it seems likely the same rationale would apply and that the courts would be unlikely to grant such a motion.