Are you someone that freely “Likes” on Facebook? I must admit I do. It is a great shorthand for communicating that you have seen your friend or family member’s message, and you support it. But is your “Like” speech under the First Amendment? Are you really expressing a viewpoint, or just randomly clicking? In practical reality, I think it probably depends on the person. But according to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, a Facebook Like is speech that is protected under the First Amendment.
The case arose when a former deputy sheriff in Virginia was fired for “Liking” the Facebook page of his boss’s political opponent in a race for city sheriff. The deputy was fired, and sued, claiming that his Like was protected speech. The trial court disagreed, ruling that although written posts on Facebook have been considered speech, a “Like” is not a statement, just a click of a button. On appeal to the Fourth Circuit, the case was reversed. The opinion states, “On the most basic level, clicking on the ‘Like’ button literally causes to be published the statement that the user ‘likes’ something, which is itself a substantive statement.”
This decision raises all sort of interesting questions about whether the First Amendment protects our actions online. What about a retweet? Should that be considered speech? It is fascinating to watch as the Courts try to keep up with our evolving world.
2 Comments
Stephanie Moyal posted on September 30, 2013 at 12:36 am
It’s crazy to think that Facebook has been integrated into our laws. The internet has become such an integral part of our lives and social media has now become synonymous with having a social life. With the click of a button we can do anything we want. I think that growing up with this power and this ease of communication, people of my generation don’t realize how dangerous the internet can really be. People post pictures for their friends and don’t think for a second that their potential employer, parents, or any random person can have access to it. But dealing with the topic at hand, it’s crazy to think that a like can fire someone! I have never thought about whether I consider a “like” a statement or not. I guess in essence it is a statement, I am saying that I “like” whatever you have posted. But when you like something, you’re really not giving any thought to it. You could think something is funny and like it, or you like it to be supportive of your friend’s status. Someone getting fired over liking a political page really makes you think twice about your actions on the internet.
KP posted on October 3, 2013 at 8:56 am
This is a very interesting area. I wonder how they look at this in different countries. It seems crazy that now, there are laws for whether a “like” is a kind of a speech or not. I would definitely agree it is not, since people do click randomly and also they might be trying to say different opinions when liking. It does not state directly what you mean when you “like” something on facebook.