Facebook and free speech: One student’s battle
July 7, 2009 by Tom D'AgostinoPosted in: From the Courts, In this week's e-newsletter, Latest News & Views
A student was suspended after using an unflattering image of his school’s president as his Facebook profile picture. Did this violate his free speech rights?
Law student Adam Key isolated a video frame of Regent University president Pat Robertson scratching his nose. Robertson happened to be using his middle finger to relieve the itch, and the picture made it look like he was “flipping the bird” to viewers.
When Key used the image as his Facebook profile picture, school administrators weren’t too happy. They told him he’d violated a school ban on profane or obscene behavior.
Key removed the image, but he later talked about the episode on a school listserve. Then the school got reports that he’d been carrying a stun gun on campus and scaring other students with erratic behavior. It decided enough was enough and suspended him for a year.
First Amendment violation? No, said the court hearing Key’s case. Regent is a private university, and the First Amendment deals only with governmental infringement of free speech rights.
Cite: Key v. Robertson.
How far should schools go to regulate students’ use of Facebook? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Tags: facebook, First Amendment, free speech
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July 7th, 2009 at 12:11 pm
Restricting free speech is always bad. I think there should be a law punishing those officials, including university officials, who try restricting free speech on campus or in general.
July 8th, 2009 at 10:18 am
The fourth paragraph changes the whole story. The Facebook picture thing was not why he was suspended. If it was, then yes, that could be a pretty egregious violation on the school’s part. But if he’s carrying weapons and scaring people, that’s a totally different story.
July 8th, 2009 at 10:37 am
Slippery slope. Suspend him for the stun gun…if there are witnesses and his actions violate the code of conduct…but posting an unflattering, unaltered photo on Facebook? Really? If the school’s newspaper had published the same photo would they have been shut down? As a Student Affairs professional, am I going to be required to do regular FaceBook checks to monitor my student’s online life? I hope there’s more to the story because that’s a bit too 1984 for my taste. Seems like President Robertson needs to relocate his sense of humour and university administrators in general need to take themselves a little less seriously in regards to image management.
July 8th, 2009 at 12:13 pm
Freedom of speech is protected when it is clear that you are not intentionally trying to harm someone. The First Amendment covers the use of photos if they are not intended to humiliate or otherwise damage someone or their reputation. An isolated video frame of someone scratching their nose with their middle finger is easily interpreted as INTENTIONAL behavior. If the student wanted to use a photo of the college president to represent his image on facebook, I’m sure there were many less unflattering photos available. The school had every right to ask him to remove the photo from his facebook profile.
As for freedom of speech and monitoring students’ facebook pages, I work at a college that includes work experience as part of the graduation requirement. We have found that employers use facebook as a pre-interview tool and some students’ photos and postings shut them out of employment opportunities. Young people need to realize that if you wouldn’t say/do it in a job interview, church or on a stage in front of thousands of people, then you shouldn’t put it on your facebook page. The internet and services like facebook are a public forum – just because you enter them in the privacy of your own home/dorm room does not protect you.
As for the year-long suspension, any student carrying a stun gun and showing it off to classmates needs counseling and school officials were justified in protecting the student body by suspending him.
July 8th, 2009 at 1:15 pm
By attending Regent, the student *voluntarily* agreed to abide by the Personal Conduct code found in the Regent University Student Handbook. Go read it. He violated the code, and they took appropriate steps to dismiss the student. Also, by allegedly possessing a stun gun and harassing/scaring/intimidating fellow students he violated university policy and the conduct code. This is not a free speech issue, it’s a student discipline issue. But again, he voluntarily entered into an agreement with Regent about how he would conduct himself while attending the university. He broke the agreement; he was dismissed, end of story.
July 8th, 2009 at 4:39 pm
Private schools get to make their own rules. If you can’t or don’t want to abide by them, attend school elsewhere. This article is purposely inflammatory in its use of ‘free speech’ in the title. This is not a 1st amendment issue.