United States: U.S. Court Of Appeals Rules That Student “Snapchat Bullying” Is Not A First Amendment Protected Activity 14 January 2022 Freeman Mathis & Gary To print this article, all you need is to be registered or login on Mondaq.com. In the recent decision entitled Doe v. Hopkinton Public Schools, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit rejected students’ contention that posting abusive and embarrassing video of another student online was protected speech. The student members of the high school hockey team sued the Hopkinton (Mass.) school district, the superintendent of schools, and the high school principal, and argued they were wrongfully disciplined by the high school. Some students photographed and video-recorded a fellow member of the team and his family on many occasions, without his permission, and then shared images and demeaning comments to a small group on the Snapchat social media application. The offensive Snapchats included expletive-laced comments and reactions regarding the teammate’s appearance, voice, anatomy and family members. A complaint was made to the school pursuant to the Massachusetts Bullying Prevention and Intervention statute, Mass. Gen. Laws. Ch 71, §§ 37H and 37O. An investigation determined that the victim had suffered numerous acts of bullying as defined both by…
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U.S. Court Of Appeals Rules That Student “Snapchat Bullying” Is Not A First Amendment … – Mondaq
