The Supreme Court of the United States, the last legal instance in the country, must decide whether members of the American federal government can block users on their own social networks, where content about the work performed is posted.
The court must consider two cases, both involving public officials using social media. One involves Port Huron City Administrator James Freed, who blocked accounts and deleted comments from his Facebook page.
It is worth noting that, as The Verge pointed out, none of the cases apply to the fact that platforms can ban or moderate users, an issue that the Supreme Court will likely address later in another judgment.
Judges must decide whether the Constitution’s First Amendment allows government officials to block citizens. Public officials who block users have appeared in court before, most notably with former President Donald Trump.
In 2017, the Knight First Amendment Institute sued the Trump administration, and an appeals court ruled in 2019 that blocking critics violated the First Amendment. At the time, it was unclear how the decision would affect policymakers and agencies.
The Supreme Court ruling could help to clarify this further and is expected to have major ramifications for how politicians use their social media accounts. In Europe, the Chamber of Deputies must return this week the project that regulates the networks.
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