"Supreme Court Sets Limits on Public Officials' Social Media Use"

The Supreme Court ruled that public officials can be sued for blocking or muting members of the public on social media, deeming them "state actors" when using social media. The ruling applies to all public officials who engage with the public on social media and sets a new legal test to determine when officials can be sued. The court acknowledged the difficulty in distinguishing official and private speech on social media and emphasized that government officials also have constitutional rights. The cases involved a school board member in California and a city manager in Michigan, and the ruling will have implications for other social media-related free speech issues.