Facebook ‘Like’ Is Protected By the First Amendment

Wait... We have so many issues they need to contend with, and we get a ruling on a FaceBook button?

It may be important, but dayum. Priorities people!
 
TechLarry said:
Wait... We have so many issues they need to contend with, and we get a ruling on a FaceBook button?

It may be important, but dayum. Priorities people!
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Well you could blame the people that got fired because they liked the opponent of their boss ... once they filed a suit the courts were forced to rule something ;) ... actually I think this is the right ruling (although it will likely get appealed to the Supreme Court now since I don't think the Sheriff wants to pay up for illegally firing his deputy) ;)
 
kbrickley said:
Well you could blame the people that got fired because they liked the opponent of their boss ... once they filed a suit the courts were forced to rule something ;) ... actually I think this is the right ruling (although it will likely get appealed to the Supreme Court now since I don't think the Sheriff wants to pay up for illegally firing his deputy) ;)
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I don't have a problem with the ruling. I'm just amazed at the fast track it got :)
 
TechLarry said:
I don't have a problem with the ruling. I'm just amazed at the fast track it got :)
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Well, fast is relative I guess ... the incident was in 2009, the original court filing in 2011, the original ruling in 2012 and the appeal ruling in 2013 ... doesn't seem extremely fast track ... since they granted the Sheriff immunity from damages in the same ruling maybe he will just give the employees their jobs back and be done with the appeals :cool:
 
TechLarry said:
I don't have a problem with the ruling. I'm just amazed at the fast track it got :)
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It was fast because tons of people use Facebook, but not as many people are murdered or whatever else we should be worrying about. Facebook is a much bigger societal concern since it has a broader, more important sphere of influence.
 
CreepyUncleGoogle said:
It was fast because tons of people use Facebook, but not as many people are murdered or whatever else we should be worrying about. Facebook is a much bigger societal concern since it has a broader, more important sphere of influence.
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And that is truly fucked up.
 
Good news.

Now how will this precedent effect facebook (or others) postings online that are not slanderous or libel or privacy law violating?
 
CreepyUncleGoogle said:
It was fast because tons of people use Facebook, but not as many people are murdered or whatever else we should be worrying about. Facebook is a much bigger societal concern since it has a broader, more important sphere of influence.
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And luckily the courts responsible for free speech cases don't usually do criminal cases so there isn't an either or :p
 
kbrickley said:
Well you could blame the people that got fired because they liked the opponent of their boss ..
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I'm not all that familiar with the first amendment, but I didn't think freedom of speech protected you from being fired from your job. If you go out and say things that make you sound like a tool and reflects poorly on the company, I figured they were within their rights to fire you.
 
Ocean said:
Good news.

Now how will this precedent effect facebook (or others) postings online that are not slanderous or libel or privacy law violating?
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Shouldn't change too much ... they had ruled previously that actual postings were free speech and this just adds likes (and probably sharing) ... however, it was only because this was a public employee (Sheriff's Deputy and the boss who fired him was the Sheriff) ... government cannot restrict free speech but private companies are under no such prohibition ... post detrimental comments about your private industry job at your own peril ;)
 
Tudz said:
I'm not all that familiar with the first amendment, but I didn't think freedom of speech protected you from being fired from your job. If you go out and say things that make you sound like a tool and reflects poorly on the company, I figured they were within their rights to fire you.
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This was not a private job ... it was the Sheriff (an elected official) who fired the Deputy for liking his opponents Facebook page ... since a Sheriff who is elected is considered part of the government he cannot restrict free speech ... by the same token he was protected from damages for the same reason (you can't sue the government for damages) so the only remediation required is to rehire the employee
 
We've got a bunch of assholes trying to fuck over hundreds of millions of Americans by forcing their extremist agenda into a bill to keep the government alive, and people care about this Facebook shit? This country needs a plague. Let's get to work on Captain Trips so we can wipe out the bottom 90%.
 
TechLarry said:
Wait... We have so many issues they need to contend with, and we get a ruling on a FaceBook button?

It may be important, but dayum. Priorities people!
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Actually this is a good thing. The principle not the actual FB like button is the issue. Kudos for actually getting this handled and the precedent it sets.
 
In case anyone missed this part, this decision was made by the 4th circuit, not the supreme court. This ruling is only binding if your case is in WV, VA, NC, SC, or MD. Also, this decision was made by a panel of only 3 judges, which means it's possible the 4th circuit could rehear the case en banc.

Logically, I don't see much of a difference between saying "I like XX" and clicking the "like" button on XX's page.
 
CreepyUncleGoogle said:
It was fast because tons of people use Facebook, but not as many people are murdered or whatever else we should be worrying about. Facebook is a much bigger societal concern since it has a broader, more important sphere of influence.
Click to expand...

Well, you typically don't hear murder cases in a civil court or even in a federal court for that matter. Most crimes are heard in state criminal courts.
 
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