Appeals court: Politician's Facebook feed not a public forum – Tech Xplore

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain A federal appeals court has rejected a lawsuit that accused county commissioner and Cowboys for Trump cofounder Couy Griffin of free speech violations for blocking a local resident from discussions on the commissioner’s personal Facebook page, in a judgement published Friday. The 10th Circuit Court in Denver sided with Griffin in the dispute over his social media account and whether it functioned as a public forum concerning county affairs, with implied guarantees to public access and free speech. Griffin, an elected commissioner in southern New Mexico’s Otero County, was suspended indefinitely from Facebook in the aftermath of his arrest in connection with the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection on the U.S. Capitol, where he appeared on an outdoor terrace and tried to lead the crowd in prayer. But the legal dispute over his social media account has persisted. Three judges from the appeals court ruled unanimously that plaintiff Jeff Swanson, chairman of the Otero County Democratic Party, failed to show that the law has determined when a personal social media profile becomes a public forum, with 1st Amendment protections. Griffin on Friday applauded the appeals court order and highlighted that he used his Facebook page to express…
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