It should go without saying that you should be careful of what you “like” on Facebook. You should try not to “like” anything embarrassing or incriminating, lest it come back to bite you. A judge has ruled that “liking” something on Facebook doesn’t protect you under the First Amendment, which is bad news for at least one man in Virginia.
Six people sued Sheriff B. J. Roberts in Hampton, Virginia after he fired them. They say they were fired for supporting his opponent in his bid to be reelected, which would be a violation of their First Amendment rights. One of the six fired, Daniel Ray Carter, “liked” the Facebook page of Roberts’ opponent. Roberts claims they were either fired for poor performance, or because supporting his opponent “hindered the harmony and efficiency of the office.”
Judge Raymond A. Jackson acknowledged that other cases involving written messages on Facebook protected the speaker with the First Amendment, clicking the “like” button is different and doesn’t warrant protection.
A lawyer for the defense has already said they’ll appeal the decision. This seems to be similar to the debate over whether or not Retweets are endorsements on Twitter, which leads to a lot of journalists including lines like “RTs do not equal endorsements” in their bio.
Do you agree that what you “like” on Facebook could be used as an incriminating evidence against you? Tell us what you think!
Source: Yahoo News
Image: TMC Net
How The Federal Government Spies On Civilians
1. The NSA is building a massive data center in Utah to read every email you’ll ever send.
If leaked information about the complex is correct, nothing will be safe from the facility’s reach, from cell phone communications to emails to what you just bought with your card. And encryption won’t protect you — one of the facility’s priorities is breaking even the most complex of codes.
2. The FBI maintains detailed files on numerous public, semi-public, and private figures.
If you’re curious about what goods the FBI has on you, you can always submit a request to view your own personal file. It is worth noting, of course, that the government doesn’t profile everyone — just certain people of interest.
3. Homeland Security is reading your tweets and Facebook status messages.
Unless you play around with your Twitter and Facebook privacy settings, just about anything you say is public. Essentially, the government wants to read through your tweets and status messages to see if there’s any information that might help in detecting threats.
4. Your ISP may soon be required to keep files on what sites you visit.
That’s exactly what the Hawaii state legislature proposed this January with H.B. 2288 and companion bill S.B. 2530. The bill, sponsored by State Rep. John Mizuno (D), “requires internet service providers… keep consumer records for no less than two years.” The bill then goes on to specify that these records must include “each subscriber’s information and internet destination history information.” Thankfully, the bills’ sponsors withdrew the offending legislation from debate.
Do you think all the hustle about online data monitoring is necessary or is it just an invasion of privacy? Share your opinions with us!
Source: Yahoo News
Image: UnDebunked