Social Media and the First Amendment: Is There a First Amendment Right To Facebook?

The Supreme Court of the United States will shortly hand down an opinion in Packingham v. North Carolina. NC Privacy Blog has previously discussed this case, which negotiates the tension between free speech rights and the need to protect children from sex offenders.

Courts have generally recognized the compelling interest in protecting children. The restrictions in this case, however, which effectively bar offenders from accessing large sections of the Internet, including sites such as Facebook and the NY Times, are more stringent than those the Court has previously approved.

But perhaps most fundamentally, the Court is going to address the new reality of social media for the first time in a world where it has gone from an entertaining accessory to an indispensable tool of business. Does the Constitution protect the right to use social media? If so, how far does that right extend? Stay tuned.