Federal appeals court delivers hit on anonymous online speech

The Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals put a crimp in First Amendment protections for anonymous speech online in its opinion on U.S. v. Glassdoor. The court found for the federal government in its quest to discover the identities of online reviews by employees of their government employers. A federal grand jury is investigating the employers for alleged fraud and abuse. (Center for Democracy & Technology, November 8, 2017, by Lisa A Hayes)

Glassdoor claims its users had a First Amendment right to associational privacy, but the Ninth Circuit panel unanimously ruled that there was no actual association among the users since the postings were individual and not discussed communally. Glassdoor also argued that there was a right to anonymous speech, but the panel ruled that the U.S. Supreme Court decision,  Branzburg v. Hayes (1972), applied in this case. Branzburg held that even after a reporter promised a source anonymity, it must cooperate with a grand jury investigation and reveal the identity of the source. (Constitutional Law Prof Blog, November 8, 2017 by Ruthann Robson)

Aaron Mackey, an Electronic Frontier Foundation attorney, said the ruling specified no requirements for process in unmasking an anonymous speaker and said the Ninth Circuit decision chilled online speech if the speech concerned a criminal investigation before the grand jury. (Cronkite News Arizona PBS, November 8, 2017k, by Isaac Windes)