Court: No 1st Amendment protection for Facebook ‘like’
The AP:
Exactly what a “like” means — if anything — played a part in a case in Virginia involving six people who say Hampton Sheriff B.J. Roberts fired them for supporting an opponent in his 2009 re-election bid, which he won. The workers sued, saying their First Amendment rights were violated.
…
While public employees are allowed to speak as citizens on matters of public concern, U.S. District Judge Raymond Jackson ruled that clicking the “like” button does not amount to expressive speech. In other words, it’s not the same as writing out a message and posting it on the site.
I think I agree with Eugene Volokh’s disagreement with the ruling later in the article, but this is really quite new territory.