The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that public officials could block citizens from their social media accounts under certain circumstances. The court determined that speech by government officials was subject to the First Amendment only if the official was authorized to speak for the government and if they were exercising that authority on the social media posts. (WPSD LOCAL 6, March 15, 2024, by John Fritze and Devan Cole of CNN)
The court noted the difficulty of determining when officials were acting for the government as they tended to combine work details with family news and photos. In writing for the court in the unanimous decision, Justice Amy Coney Barrett said it was important to take a “close look” at the details of the government official’s postings. For the Ninth Circuit, Judge Marsha S. Berzon had earlier written, “When state actors enter that virtual world and invoke their government status to create a forum for such expression, the First Amendment enters with them.” (The New York Times, March 16, 2024, by Adam Liptak)
Barrett also warned the officials about deleting comments from their accounts that contain both official and personal posts, “A public official who fails to keep personal posts in a clearly designated personal account therefore exposes himself to greater potential liability.” (SCOTUSblog, March 15, 2024, by Amy Howe)