The Associated Press May 5, 2012 By Brock Vergakis NORFOLK The "like" button on Facebook seems like a relativelyclear way to express your support for something, but a federaljudge says that doesn't mean clicking it is constitutionallyprotected speech. Exactly what a "like" means - if anything - played a partin a case in Virginia involving six people who say Hampton SheriffB.J. Roberts fired them for supporting an opponent in his 2009re-election bid, which Roberts won. The workers sued, saying theirFirst Amendment rights were violated. Roberts said some of the workers were let go because he wanted toreplace them with sworn deputies, while others were fired becauseof poor performance or his belief that their actions "hinderedthe harmony and efficiency of the office." One of those workers, Daniel Ray Carter, had "liked" theFacebook page of Roberts' opponent, Jim Adams.
While public employees are allowed to speak as citizens on mattersof public concern, U.S. District Judge Raymond Jackson ruled thatclicking the "like" button does not amount to expressivespeech. In other words, it's not the same as actually writing out amessage and posting it on the site. The case enters a murky legal area: Previous cases have dealt withpostings on social networks such as Facebook, but there are noexplicit words in this situation.
Marcus Messner, a journalism andmass communications professor at Virginia Commonwealth Universitywho specializes in social media, said it was likely the matterwould have to be settled by a higher court. "Going to a candidate's Facebook page and liking it in my viewis a political statement," Messner said. "It's not a verydeep one, but you're making a statement when you like a person'sFacebook page." James Shoemaker, an attorney for one of the fired workers, said hewas surprised by Jackson's April 24 opinion and order and wouldappeal it. Jackson acknowledged that other courts have ruled that Facebookposts are constitutionally protected speech, but he said in thosecases there were "actual statements." Simply clicking abutton doesn't warrant First Amendment protection, he wrote. "The court will not attempt to infer the actual content ofCarter's post from one click of a button on Adams' Facebookpage," Jackson wrote.
First Amendment scholars said there isn't much to infer:"Liking" a Facebook page is much like putting a bumpersticker on a car or wearing a button. One critic of the ruling is Eugene Volokh, a law professor at theUniversity of California, Los Angeles, who critiqued the judge'sdecision in a blog post. In an interview, Volokh said that while a "like" could beambiguous, there's no question it counts as speech. A thumbs-upgesture is a symbolic expression protected by the First Amendment,for instance, and "liking" something on Facebook is evenmore clearly expressive because it generates text on a computerscreen, he said. "It is conveying a message to others," he said.
"Itmay just involve just a couple of mouse clicks, or maybe just onemouse click, but the point of that mouse click, a major point ofthat mouse click, is to inform others that you like whatever thatmeans." Roberts, the sheriff, doesn't use Facebook but has acknowledged incourt documents that he knew about Carter's Facebook like. Cartersaid in court documents that Roberts was so angry about theFacebook actions that Carter thought Roberts might punch himfollowing a staff meeting where Carter's and another fired worker'sFacebook actions were mentioned. In his ruling, the judge acknowledged the need to weigh whether theemployee's speech was a substantial factor in being fired. Thejudge wrote that the point is moot if "liking" somethingisn't constitutionally protected speech. Don Herzog, a law professor at the University of Michigan, saidJackson's ruling raises questions about the power of the governmentto determine what should be taken seriously in politics when itcomes to protected speech.
"It is for sure a thin statement, but it is clearly withinwhat we do all the time as democratic citizens," Herzog said."This is one of the ways we talk about politics in oursociety.". I am a professional writer from Automobiles & Motorcycles, which contains a great deal of information about oscillating table fans , nissan s cargo, welcome to visit!
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