The City of Columbia and the Columbia Police Department (CPD) announced in late June the institution of a “zero tolerance for hate speech” policy on their social media platforms – including the apparent adoption of a “block list” for violators.

First Amendment Concerns

The city’s attempt to police interaction online drew a swift rebuke from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), a group which “defends free speech nationwide.” According to a letter from FIRE’s director of public advocacy, Aaron Terr, the city’s new policy – and its preexisting rules regarding social media interaction – “unlawfully restrict First Amendment-protected expression.”

As the Supreme Court recently made clear, when government actors use social media for official business, they must comply with the First Amendment. The government cannot evade these constitutional requirements with a notice that commenters accept other terms.

According to FIRE, the city is engaging in subjective discrimination of “viewpoint-based” judgements. “CPD may not restrict speech—whether by hiding comments, deleting them entirely, or blocking users — simply because it subjectively finds the speech inappropriate, offensive, racist, disrespectful, or bullying,” he wrote, adding that the city must “revise its Facebook comment policy to comply with the First Amendment, remove or update the June 25 post, and commit to refraining from deleting comments, hiding comments, or blocking users over constitutionally protected speech.”

Original reporting: FITSNews — read the source article.