Wednesday, December 5, 2012
"Are Facebook 'Likes' Protected by the First Amendment?" An article written by Noor Brara
In the article "Are Facebook 'Likes' Protected by the First Amendment?" I read about Daniel Ray Carter, a man in Virginia, who was fired from his job in April 2009 because he liked a Facebook page. The page was for the sheriff running against his boss. Liking the page doesn't actually count as a statement, therefore it is not protected by the First Amendment (the right to free speech). Some say that online speech such as "likes" should be protected by the First Amendment. The Supreme Court will ultimately decide whether or not Facebook "likes" are protected as free speech. As you can imagine this isn't what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they made the Amendments. We are currently learning about the Founding Fathers in Social Studies and obviously Facebook was not around, but they did intend for people to have the right to express their thoughts and opinions in a respectful manner. What do you guys think? Should "likes" be protected?
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Ellie, I do agree with you about "likes" not being protected by the First Amendment, because a like isn't really like a statement. It's just saying that you think the post was cool or agreeable. In your paragraph, I like how you kept the summery short and sweet because that's what Ms. Ferreira had said for us to do. After I read this article, I had a flashback to elementary school, maybe fourth or fifth grade. I just remember sitting in social studies and studing the First Amendment. Do you remember that? What do you think of when you think of the First Amendment?
ReplyDeleteI think that "likes" should be protected by the First Amendment. Just because someone agrees with something you don't like doesn't mean you can take out mean and unjust punishments on them. What if the person had never really "liked" the post. Someone could have gone on their computer and liked it for them, only to get them fired from their job. A "like" on face book is basically the same thing as going out with a group of people who all agree on the same thing as you and protesting for what they believe. Also, just because the person's boss did not agree with what his employee said doesn't mean he has any right to fire him, especially if he has no proof that it was actually him.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you and everyone else that likes should be protected by the first amendment. I think that the story is definetly an example of why. The only thing I have to say bad about this article is that I don't really like how you put the question at the end because it just kind of feel out of place, for lack of a better term. Other than that, I really liked it and thought it was very good. Great job,
ReplyDeleteHey Ellie, I really liked your article. I thought you did a great job stating the main idea of the article and I thought that you did a great job supporting your answer. I also liked that story, I mean, that guy's boss had no right to fire him and is a great example of why likes should certainly be protected by the first amendment. The only thing I have to say negatively about this is that you shouldn't really be talking to the reader in the article, other than that, great job!
ReplyDeleteEllie I agree with you because technically a "like" is not a statement. However his old boss firing him for liking a possible new boss proves how bad a boss he could be. Also is liking a facebook page really a big deal? Great and an enjoyable response to read Ellie.
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