COVID misinformation not protected speech. A man who lied on Facebook about paying someone with COVID to lick items at a grocery store is not protected by the First Amendment, according to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit. The court's decision upholds a conviction handed to 40-year-old Christopher Charles Perez last October.
Back in April 2020, Perez posted on Facebook: "My homeboys cousin has covid19 and has licked every thing for past 2 days cause we paid him to … YOU'VE BEEN WARNED." He quickly took down that post, but subsequently shared a story about someone at a local grocery store testing positive for COVID with "Lol..I did try to warn y'all."
