The United States Supreme Court will soon decide whether public officials may be liable for blocking constituents on social media. On October 31, 2023, the Court heard oral argument in O’Connor-Ratcliff v. Garnier and Lindke...more
Navigating the intricate balance between freedom of speech and the confines of a regulated profession is not easy these days, especially with the prevalence of social media. This was precisely the challenge the Ontario...more
Last week, I wrote about an unsuccessful challenge to the activities of the Office of Elections Cybersecurity within the California Secretary of State's office: Is The California Secretary of State Monitoring What You Publish...more
In 2018, the California legislature established a "ministry of truth" within the California Secretary of State's office - the Office of Elections Cybersecurity. By statute, the OEC has a duty “to monitor and counteract false...more
A series of recent and dramatic developments have squarely raised the question of how much latitude the government has under the First Amendment to regulate social media platforms. It will likely not be long before this issue...more
The Polish Ministry of Justice published a bill on the Protection of the Freedom of Speech on Social Media. The bill’s aim is to provide a legal framework to protect social media users from platform owners’ arbitrary...more
On August 19, 2020, in Marquardt v. Carlton, et al., No. 19-4223, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit reversed summary judgment for the City of Cleveland on a former employee’s claim that the city had terminated...more
2020, what a year! Thanks to a raging global pandemic I’ve been spending more time at home, eating in more often and keeping tabs on the thoughts of prominent epidemiologists – just as I planned! My current crushes are Dr....more
A recent federal appeals court decision, Knight First Amendment Institute v. Trump, concluded that action taken by the President through the use of his personal, not just official White House, Twitter account was considered...more
The court concluded its opinion with an observation that at this time in history, “wide-open, robust debate” is the best assurance of good government. The Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled last week that public...more
As technology and social media continue to develop, so do legal questions surrounding their use by public entities and employees. On July 9, 2019, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals in Knight First Amendment Institute v....more
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit yesterday became the third federal circuit court to hold that the interactive space of a government official’s social media account is subject to First Amendment strictures. In...more
A federal judge has ruled that the First Amendment prohibits President Donald J. Trump from blocking Twitter users because of political disagreements....more
We continue to toe the line between privacy rights and social media activity. Typically, though, it’s the employee looking to protect the privacy principle. Not this time. In the context of settlement agreements in employment...more