Friday, May 11, 2012


You could be fired for 'liking' a Facebook page

We read:
"Six workers in the US were fired for 'liking' the Facebook page of their boss's political opponent after a federal judge ruled that clicking the 'like' button is not constitutionally protected speech.

But does the act of merely clicking a button on a website constitute fully fledged support of the opposition?

"Whether or not it's justifiable to terminate them solely for liking the opponent candidate on Facebook, I think is a very long, almost quantum leap," says Young.

In the case in the US, Sheriff B.J. Roberts of Hampton, Virginia, fired six of his staff members for liking the Facebook page of his running opponent in the 2009 election.  He said that their actions had "hindered the harmony and efficiency of the office".

The staff members sued, claiming that their First Amendment rights had been violated.

However, Judge Raymond A. Jackson of the Federal District Court said in his ruling that clicking the "like" button did not amount to expressive speech.

Essentially, because there was no actual writing or speech involved, the act of clicking a button is not afforded constitutional protection under the ruling.

A lawyer for one of the workers said he would appeal Judge Jackson's ruling.

Source

 If pole dancing and flag burning are protected as speech,  It is difficult to see why "Like" clicking is not protected also.  Besides, "like" may just express interest or amusement.  It is  not necessarily  a wholehearted endorsement of someone.

12 comments:

Bird of Paradise said...

Another imperial ruling by a imperial judge

Anonymous said...

They are focusing on the wrong thing, it's under the right of free association not speech that this issue should be judged.

A. Levy said...

The sheeple of America have allowed judges, most of whom are nothing more than political hacks, to become gods. What the American sheeple rarely understand is the true price they pay for their weakness and stupidity.

Anonymous said...

The US is an empire in decline, even more than the european ones.

Use the Name, Luke said...

I'm not surprised that his employees like this Sheriff's opponent. If he's willing to fire 6 people over a simple click of a button, he must be hell-on-wheels in day-to-day interactions.

So now he's handed a huge campaign issue to his opponent: "Our current Sheriff fired 6 people over nothing more than clicking a "Like" button on Facebook. Is this the kind of ultra-authoritarian person you want enforcing our laws?"

President Not Sure said...

"Essentially, because there was no actual writing or speech involved, the act of clicking a button is not afforded constitutional protection under the ruling."

So a mime giving someone a thumbs up would not be worthy of protection since it involved neither speech nor writing?

Anonymous said...

Lib environuts pwned by science once again.

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2012/05/10/oregon-norovirus-traced-to-reusable-grocery-bag/

TheOldMan said...

So if the six people voted for his opponent and talked about having done so, would that also have "hindered the harmony and efficiency of the office"?

Matt said...

The source story does not make it clear if the people fired were campaign staff or sherrifs department staff.

However, if they were department staff, they would have had other grounds than first amendment issues to sue over their firing. Either union contract issues or civil service protections.

That they sued on first amendment grounds implies that they were campaign staff. If they were campaign staff I think firing them for liking the facebook page of thier bosses opponent is reasonable.

Matt said...

The source story does not make it clear if the people fired were campaign staff or sherrifs department staff.

However, if they were department staff, they would have had other grounds than first amendment issues to sue over their firing. Either union contract issues or civil service protections.

That they sued on first amendment grounds implies that they were campaign staff. If they were campaign staff I think firing them for liking the facebook page of thier bosses opponent is reasonable.

Dman said...

I'm not going to address the effect they may have had at the office, nor if this effect may or may not have been legal grounds for the firings. But regarding the issue of "like" buttons not being considered "speech"...

It's pretty clear that clicking a "like" button is tantamount to saying, "I like/agree/support X." IANAL, but I'm pretty sure even I could easily win that arguement in a court of law.

Anonymous said...

Facebook should have a "blow me" button