Court Rules Against Politician Who Banned Access to Her Facebook Page
Facebook page of Virginia county politician is forum protected by the First Amendment, judge says
A federal court in Virginia ruled that a local politician violated the free-speech rights of a constituent she banned from her Facebook page, in a case the judge said raises “important questions” about the constitutional restrictions that apply to social media accounts of elected officials.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge James Cacheris in Alexandria, Va., could buttress a lawsuit in New York alleging that President Donald Trump unconstitutionally suppressed dissent by blocking Twitter users from following his account.
President Trump’s frequent use of Twitter has added urgency to First Amendment questions revolving around the use of social media by public officials.
In the Virginia case, Brian Davison sued the chairwoman of the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors, who temporarily banned him from her Facebook page after he posted criticism of local officials last year.
Judge Cacheris, finding that Phyllis Randall was acting as a public official on her Facebook page, said Ms. Randall committed “a cardinal sin under the First Amendment.”
“The suppression of critical commentary regarding elected officials is the quintessential form of viewpoint discrimination against which the First Amendment guards,” Judge Cacheris wrote in his 44-page ruling on Tuesday.
