Supreme Court Tosses Rulings on Public Officials’ Social Media Blockings

Supreme Court Tosses Rulings on Public Officials’ Social Media Blockings

The Supreme Court clarified when public officials can block critical constituents from their personal profiles without violating their constitutional protections in a unanimous decision Friday. From a report: After hearing appeals of two conflicting rulings — one filed against school board members in Southern California and another filed against the city manager of Port Huron, Mich. — the justices provided no definitive resolution to the disputes and instead sent both cases back to lower courts to apply the new legal test. In a unanimous decision authored by Justice Amy Coney Barrett, the court said state officials cannot block constituents on their personal pages when they have “actual authority to speak on behalf of the State on a particular matter” and “purported to exercise that authority in the relevant posts.”

“For social-media activity to constitute state action, an official must not only have state authority — he must also purport to use it,” Barrett wrote. The case marked the latest battle over public officials’ social media presence when they mesh their official and personal roles. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which heard the Michigan case, sided with the city manager, James Freed, who deleted comments on his Facebook page left by a resident and blocked several of the resident’s profiles. The resident, Kevin Lindke, had criticized Freed over his handling of the COVID-19 pandemic, court filings indicate.

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