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Social media usage has become a ubiquitous part of life for much of the world. The Pew Research Center reports that in 2021, 72% of Americans actively use social media for human connection, news and information sharing, and entertainment, up from just 5% in 2005. Social media has quite simply changed the world and employers are now grappling with how to respond to this change, especially as it relates to use of social media by their employees during particularly politically charged and divisive times.
While private companies have largely unfettered rights to discipline or fire employees for what they post on social media, public employers are much more constrained in their ability to police their employees’ personal social media usage. This is because public employees are protected from retaliation by their employers for exercising their rights to free speech under the First Amendment. Under these First Amendment protections, public employees generally have the right to speak out on matters of public concern or importance during their personal time and cannot be disciplined for doing so as long as their exercise of that right does not unduly disrupt or interfere with their employer's interest in maintaining workforce efficiency.
Courts utilize a balancing test, first established by the Supreme Court in Pickering v. Board of Education (1968), to weigh the free speech rights of government employees against their government employers...
Ryan Amacher, who played role in bid to damage campaign, has also made antisemitic and racist posts on social media An influencer who played a key role in hoax claims that James Talarico was in a ...