By Kathleen Kapusta, J.D.
“Courts have long recognized that re-posting memes or other content from other creators, without further comment, is akin to one’s own speech.”
A Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission (FWC) scientist who, while on vacation out of state, reposted from her personal phone a statement about Charlie Kirk as a story on her private Instagram account, and who was subsequently fired as a result, failed to show her free speech interests outweighed the interests of her former employer. Denying her motion for a preliminary injunction, a federal district court in Florida explained that “At this early stage, Plaintiff has not yet demonstrated that her interests tip the scales. Only time will tell if this changes on a more developed record” (Brown v. Young, No. 4:25cv419-MW/MJF (N.D. Fla. Nov. 13, 2025)).
Reposted, fired. In September 2025, the FWC employee, a biological scientist, reposted a statement from a third-party’s account on her private Instragram story that read “the whales are deeply saddened to learn of the shooting of charlie kirk, haha just kidding, they care exactly as much as charlie kirk cared about children being shot in their classrooms, which is to say, not at all.” Four days later, someone on X posted a screenshot of the employee’s Instagram story and a screenshot of her public LinkedIn profile that listed her employment at the FWC. That individual urged swift retribution against the employee, who was fired less than 24 hours...
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