Parent sues Midlands school district over Facebook ban, claims free speech violated
The Lexington 1 school district has settled a lawsuit brought by a parent who claimed his First Amendment rights were violated when he was kicked out of an elementary school Facebook group.
Pelion resident Ryan Hoover will receive $48,250 as part of the dismissal of his suit in Columbia federal court on Thursday, his attorney, Tyler Rody, confirmed to The State.
Hoover filed the suit in April alleging he became concerned about Pelion Elementary School when his son’s kindergarten teacher was placed on administrative leave without notice or an adequate explanation to parents, the lawsuit claims.
The parent took to Pelion Elementary’s Facebook page to voice his displeasure and discourage parents from sending their children to the school. His comment was quickly deleted by the page’s administrators, Hoover claims.
“(S)oon after Plaintiff posted this comment, Defendants also blocked Plaintiff’s personal Facebook profile from the Pelion Elementary School Facebook page,” the lawsuit claims. “After Defendants blocked Plaintiff, he could no longer read posts, comment on posts, or even find the Pelion Elementary School Facebook page on a Facebook search.”
Hoover claimed that as the official social media page of a public school, his comments there are protected speech, and the school district cannot censor or punish critical opinions expressed there that school officials don’t like.
How public officials use social media to interact with — or block — members of the public has become an active area of constitutional law in the digital age. Federal appeals courts have ruled in favor of plaintiffs who have been blocked by politicians when social media has been used as a venue for official communications.
In Thursday’s settlement, Hoover was not readmitted to the Pelion Elementary Facebook page, Rody told The State, and his child no longer attends the school.
But the attorney still thinks the case struck a blow for the First Amendment.
“It’s very important that we have the freedom of speech, at a time when it’s sort of dwindling away,” Rody said. “It’s just something that needs to be preserved, and not just for powerful corporations and the government.”
Lexington 1 declined to comment on the case when contacted by The State.
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