Social Media

Democratic presidential candidate and U.S. Representative Tulsi Gabbard (D-HI) speaks during the California Democratic Convention in San Francisco, California, U.S. June 1, 2019. REUTERS/Stephen Lam

Presidential Candidate Tulsi Gabbard Sues Google for $50 Million For Free Speech Violations

July 24, 2019 U. S. Representative and  Democratic presidential candidate Tulsi Gabbard filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Central District of California, claiming that Google infringed on her free speech rights.  Google is a privately-owned company and isn’t subject to restrictions imposed by the First Amendment, which only applies to actions by the government. However,[Read More…]

July 26, 2019 — Below the Fold, Censorship, Social Media, Speech
U.S. President Donald Trump awaits the arrival of Qatar’s Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani at the White House in Washington, U.S., July 9, 2019. REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Ballard Spahr: Second Circuit Affirms That President Trump’s Blocking of Opponents on His Twitter Account Violates First Amendment

Reprinted with Permission from Ballard Spahr July 10, 2019 The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit yesterday became the third federal circuit court to hold that the interactive space of a government official’s social media account is subject to First Amendment strictures. In Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia Univ., et al. v. Donald J. Trump, et al., No.[Read More…]

July 11, 2019 — Below the Fold, Press, Social Media
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Faces Two Federal Lawsuits for Blocking Twitter Users

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez Faces Two Federal Lawsuits for Blocking Twitter Users

August 8, 2019 On July 10, 2019, New York assemblyman Dov Hikind and Republican congressional candidate Joseph Saladino filed separate lawsuits against Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez for blocking them on Twitter.  The lawsuits were filed soon after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit ruled that President Trump’s Twitter account, @realDonaldTrump, was a public forum, and as such, blocking[Read More…]

July 10, 2019 — Below the Fold, Social Media, Speech, Uncategorized
Stickers bearing the Facebook logo are pictured at Facebook Inc's F8 developers conference in San Jose, California, U.S., April 30, 2019. REUTERS/Stephen Lam/File Photo

Laura Loomer Sues Facebook for Defamation, Requesting More Than $3 Billion in Punitive Damages 

July 10, 2019 Laura Loomer, an Internet personality known for her anti-Muslim rhetoric, is suing Facebook for defamation after the company banned her and other “dangerous individuals” from the platform in May 2019. Loomer was one of six users to be removed from Facebook for violating the company’s policies on hate speech. Other big names banned from the site include[Read More…]

July 10, 2019 — Below the Fold, Defamation, Social Media, Speech
U.S. President Donald Trump boards Air Force One to return to Washington from Morristown Municipal Airport in Morristown, New Jersey, U.S. July 7, 2019. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

Federal Appeals Court Affirms Lower Court Ruling That Trump Can’t Block Critics on Twitter

A federal appeals court ruled that President Trump’s Twitter account is a public forum, and his practice of blocking critics violates the First Amendment. The decision arose from a July 2017 suit filed in U. S District Court for the Southern District of New York by seven Twitter users who had been blocked after they made critical remarks about Trump and/or his policies. The critics, represented by Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, sued Trump and Daniel Scavino, the White House’s Director of Social Media, for violating their First Amendment rights.

July 9, 2019 — Below the Fold, Social Media, Speech
Alex Jones of Infowars walks through the halls of the U.S. Senate's Dirksen Senate office building in Washington, D.C. September 5, 2018. REUTERS/Jim Bourg

Facebook Bans Alex Jones and Other Controversial Figures for Promoting Hate Speech and Violence

Facebook is banning some controversial, well-known figures for violating the social media giant’s policies on hate speech and promoting violence. The list includes Sandy Hook-denier Alex Jones, right-wing provocateur Milo Yiannopoulos, conspiracy theorists Laura Loomer and Paul John Watson, Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who promotes anti-Semitic views, and Paul Nehlen, a white nationalist who ran for Congress in 2018.

May 2, 2019 — Social Media, Top Stories