SCOTUS - Public officials blocking constituents ruling

[pixy0stix]

www.npr.org/2024/03/15/1238907249/supreme-court-social-media

I didn't know what to title this. The decision deals with if it infringes on the 1st Amendment if a public official blocks you on social media.

[tacokick]

Interesting!! Hogan had me blocked for a while lol but I can see his posts again (unfortunately)

[nsl]

I follow both a lot of local politicians plus their gadflies, so the repercussions of this (to whatever extent these people acknowledge them instead of just quietly unblocking) will be interesting to watch. It does seem like muting is still an option, so it's not necessarily requiring political figures to subject themselves to abusive comments.

[wawa]

I've always thought this was pretty damn straightforward. Glad to see the courts agree with me. If you're going to use social media for official communications, then you can't block people on the official account. If you're going to use your PERSONAL social media for official communications - well that's dumb, but also you can't block people. If you have a personal social media that sometimes *reposts* official things, block away.
Doesn't seem that tricky.

Also blocking people just for posting DISAGREEMENT is a weak ass move (cough*hogan*cough), but that's not in the court's ruling is it?

I have some level of sympathy for people like the Town Manager because it's such small potatoes that I'm sure he didn't think it would be such a thing, but like....dude, why the hell are you posting publicly from your private account? That's dumb. Don't do that.

[MixedBerryJam]

Mar 15, 2024 19:06:53 GMT -5 tacokick said:

Interesting!! Hogan had me blocked for a while lol but I can see his posts again (unfortunately)

because he’s a candidate now