Facebook Likes Are Definitely Free Speech, Says Facebook

Is clicking the like button on Facebook, something millions of users do dozens of times every single day, an act of protected free speech?

According to the purveyors of the like button, yes, it most certainly is.

Facebook makes this assertion in a brief filed in support of a Deputy Sheriff who was fired, he says, because he liked his boss opponent on the social network.

According to court documents, Deputy Sheriff Daniel Ray Carter of Hampton, Virginia liked the page of Jim Adams for Hampton Sheriff. As youre well aware, when a user likes a page on Facebook, that information is pushed to ths users Timeline and their friends news feeds. Apparently, this didnt go over too well with Sheriff B.J. Roberts, Carters boss and then incumbent in the election.

Roberts ended up winning and Carter was promptly fired from his position. He claims that he was fired for liking the campaign page of Roberts opponent, Jim Adams. Of course, firing someone for their political beliefs is a no-no in most areas of the country, so Carter sued.

But he was unsuccessful in his suit, as the judge on the case ruled that a Facebook like is not protected as free speech, as it doesnt contain actual statements.

It is the Courts conclusion that merely liking a Facebook page is insufficient speech to merit constitutional protection. In cases where courts have found that constitutional speech protections extended to Facebook posts, actual statements existed within the record.

Carter has appealed the decision and now Facebook is going to bat for him, arguing that their like is free speech in the same way that a political bumper sticker is free speech. When a Facebook User Likes a Page on Facebook, she engages in speech protected by the First Amendment, says Facebook in the brief.

They go on:

The district courts holding thatliking a Facebook page is insufficient speech to merit constitutional protection because it does not involve actual statements, J.A. 1159, betrays amisunderstanding of the nature of the communication at issue and disregards well-settled Supreme Court and Fourth Circuit precedent. Liking a Facebook Page (or other website) is core speech: it is a statement that will be viewed by a small group of Facebook Friends or by a vast community of online users.

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Facebook Likes Are Definitely Free Speech, Says Facebook