From an Anonymous Veteran
“I said what I said.” -You, on the command/ombudsman/unit’s Facebook page. The base decided to do something crappy in housing again, like shut off the power all day in sections of housing during the quarantine when outside temperatures are set to reach the 90s, leaving families hanging at home with nowhere to go…and no AC.
I don’t know about you, but I’ve been there, though I was banned by our local command Public Affairs Officer (PAO) before I could even think about having the last word. My crime? I pointed out that servicemembers are absolutely allowed to ask for clarification of an instruction or guidance posted on social media, and that doing so does not equal disobeying a lawful order.
Government entities and elected officials legally cannot block people on social media.
Let me say that again: government officials, entities, and even the President of the United States of America cannot legally block you on their social media forums.
The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Davison v. Randall that the interactive portion of a public official’s social media page, such as the Facebook comment section of a post, is legally considered a public forum, so government officials cannot block private individuals from it because of the opinions they hold. In another similar case, President Trump himself was ordered by the court to unblock 7 individual Twitter users after he blocked them on his own personal account, which he uses on a regular basis for official government purposes.
Government officials acting in their governmental capacities must remember that they are still subject to the limits that the First Amendment places on the government while they are doing their government work.
“As per the Navy Social Media Handbook, the Navy does not tolerate inappropriate or improper behavior online and will report instances to their chain of command. The blocking of individuals who continue to violate UCMJ or Department of Navy values online may be made by the local PAO and their Commanding Officer as appropriate,” the Director of Public Affairs wrote to me in an email when I asked if the banning of individuals on social media was an acceptable practice for commands utilizing a presence online. Does it sounds like they believe that the First Amendment applies here?
In a world where legal fees are currently too costly for me to do anything significant about this issue, I would just like every military command out there to know that when it comes to anything online, we are watching.
