Banning Social Networking Sites: Is It Violating Freedom of Speech?
By: Stephanie Berzinski
Updated: October 1, 2009
After Texas Tech head football Coach, Mike Leach banned his team from using Twitter, we asked if banning it was against First Amendment rights.
According to experts, when it comes to site like Twitter and Facebook, whether it's a football team you play on or the company you work for, you can get in trouble for what you post. Attorney Rod Hobson reminded us that just because you can say it, doesn't mean you won't have to face any consequences.
"Because football is a voluntary activity, people are signing up for football and wanting to do that then then they have to abide by his rules so long as they are reasonable. Work is a voluntary kind of thing too and a company can probably put reasonable restrictions on what you do. In other words, they can't say you can't post something negative, but what they'll say is you can't work here if you're going to do that," said Rod Hobson, criminal defense lawyer.
Hobson added that employers are well within their rights to discipline or fire someone over social networking posts.
