The United States Supreme Court has recently ruled on a significant case regarding public officials blocking social media followers. The unanimous court has established a new test to determine when public officials are permitted to block their followers on social media. The cases in question originated from Michigan and California, involving local officials who had blocked followers that had criticized their actions.
The test set by the Supreme Court states that a public official can be considered to be engaging in state action by blocking or preventing someone from commenting on their social media page only if the official had the actual authority to speak on behalf of the state on a specific matter and purported to exercise that authority in the relevant posts. The court emphasized that this is a highly fact-specific inquiry, focusing on whether the official was acting within their official capacity and exercising government authority when blocking individuals.
