By Ann E. Marimow, washingtonpost.com, 10-31-23
The Supreme Court on Oct. 31 struggled to agree on how to determine when public officials can block critics from their private social media accounts, reviewing two cases that will have broad implications for citizen interactions with politicians online.
All nine justices seemed to acknowledge the challenge and importance of defining when government employees are acting in an official capacity online, and therefore bound by First Amendment restrictions on censorship; and when they are acting as private citizens, with their own individual free speech rights.
But there was no clear consensus on the answer after three hours of oral argument. » Read More