You Can Be Fired for a Facebook “Like” [View all]

[kpete]

If you want to keep your job, don’t “like” someone on Facebook who is an opponent of your boss. In a decision that affects free expression on social media, a federal judge ruled that there’s no First Amendment protection for a one-click Facebook like.

“It is the Court’s conclusion that merely “liking” a Facebook page is insufficient speech to merit constitutional protection,” wrote federal trial judge Raymond A. Jackson of Norfolk, VA.

The candidate in question — B.J. Roberts, Sheriff of Hampton, Virginia — cited a budget squeeze when he fired Bobby Bland and four cohorts, who took to the court crying free speech foul over Facebook. The ex-employees of Roberts’ election campaign said the sheriff knew they “liked” his opponent’s Facebook page, prompting Roberts to let them go once he won.

Bland and friends also attended Roberts’ opponents cookout, but the court decided that Roberts didn’t know about that or the bumper sticker – which would be protected under the First Amendment.

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