Reason.com - Free Minds and Free Markets
Reason logo Reason logo
  • Latest
  • Magazine
    • Current Issue
    • Archives
    • Subscribe
    • Crossword
  • Video
    • Reason TV
    • The Reason Roundtable
    • Just Asking Questions
    • Free Media
    • The Reason Interview
  • Podcasts
    • All Shows
    • The Reason Roundtable
    • The Reason Interview With Nick Gillespie
    • The Soho Forum Debates
    • Just Asking Questions
  • Volokh
  • Newsletters
  • Donate
    • Donate Online
    • Donate Crypto
    • Ways To Give To Reason Foundation
    • Torchbearer Society
    • Planned Giving
  • Subscribe
    • Reason Plus Subscription
    • Gift Subscriptions
    • Print Subscription
    • Subscriber Support

Login Form

Create new account
Forgot password

Politics

Does the First Amendment Cover the Right to "Like" Something on Facebook?

Damon Root | 4.30.2012 5:19 PM

Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL Add Reason to Google
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

The answer to that question is no, at least according to the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virgina, which has ruled that Facebook "likes" do not count as constitutionally protected forms of speech. From the opinion in Bland v. Roberts:

[Previous First Amendment rulings] differ markedly from the case at hand in one crucial way: Both [precedents] involved actual statements. No such statements exist in this case. Simply liking a Facebook page is insufficient. It is not the kind of substantive statement that has previously warranted constitutional protection. The Court will not attempt to infer the actual content of Carter's posts from one click of a button on Adams' Facebook page. For the Court to assume that the Plaintiffs made some specific statement without evidence of such statements is improper. Facebook posts can be considered matters of public concern; however, the Court does not believe Plaintiffs Carter and McCoy have alleged sufficient speech to garner First Amendment protection.

At the Volokh Conspiracy, UCLA law professor Eugence Volokh argues that the decision is just flat out wrong:

A Facebook "like" is a means of conveying a message of support for the thing you're liking. That's the whole point of the "like" button; that's what people intend by clicking "like," and that's what viewers will perceive. Moreover, the allegation is that the employees were fired precisely because the Sheriff disapproved of the message the "like" conveyed. I would treat "liking" as verbal expression — though it takes just one mouse-click, it publishes to the world text that says that you like something. But even if it's just treated as symbolic expression, it is still constitutionally protected, as cases such as Texas v. Johnson (1989) (the flag-burning case) show.

Read Volokh's full analysis of the decision here.

Start your day with Reason. Get a daily brief of the most important stories and trends every weekday morning when you subscribe to Reason Roundup.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.

NEXT: Education Expert Michelle Rhee Criticized for Speaking at Education-Related Conference

Damon Root is a senior editor at Reason and the author of A Glorious Liberty: Frederick Douglass and the Fight for an Antislavery Constitution (Potomac Books).

PoliticsCivil LibertiesCourtsFree Speech
Share on FacebookShare on XShare on RedditShare by emailPrint friendly versionCopy page URL Add Reason to Google
Media Contact & Reprint Requests

Show Comments (55)

Latest

Dick Cheney, Vice President and Self-Described 'Darth Vader,' Was a Champion of the War State

Matthew Petti | 11.4.2025 1:15 PM

Election Day

Christian Britschgi | 11.4.2025 1:00 PM

This Company Makes 65 Percent of the Wi-Fi Routers in U.S. Homes. The Government Wants To Ban Them.

Joe Lancaster | 11.4.2025 12:05 PM

Baseball's Solution to the Dodgers Isn't a Salary Cap

Jason Russell | 11.4.2025 10:15 AM

What Does Fentanyl Have to Do With Alleged Drug Boats 2,600 Miles Away? Absolutely Nothing.

Tosin Akintola | 11.4.2025 10:00 AM

Recommended

  • About
  • Browse Topics
  • Events
  • Staff
  • Jobs
  • Donate
  • Advertise
  • Subscribe
  • Contact
  • Media
  • Shop
  • Amazon
Reason Facebook@reason on XReason InstagramReason TikTokReason YoutubeApple PodcastsReason on FlipboardReason RSS Add Reason to Google

© 2025 Reason Foundation | Accessibility | Privacy Policy | Terms Of Use

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Take Reason's short survey for a chance to win $300
Take Reason's short survey for a chance to win $300
Take Reason's short survey for a chance to win $300