Facebook recently entered the South African legal domain when the Durban High Court held that it is permissible for documents to be served through the social media platform. This begs the question though – what’s coming next?
With the high value placed on freedom of expression in this country (who can forget the ruckus outside the Goodman Gallery earlier this year in Joburg), it’s not impossible to imagine that there could be a legal factor to what you do on your social media platforms. There’s already more than enough support for the notion that the things you say over Facebook and Twitter count as speech. Jessica Leandra should know this better than anyone. In fact, these days, any model with a cellphone really should know this.
What about something a little bit more abstract – such as Facebook’s infamous “Like” button? Can liking something on Facebook amount to an expression of your own views and beliefs, which would then (broadly, at least) fall under the definition of free speech? A case in the US is busy trying to find the answer to this question and Facebook themselves are also throwing their weight behind the matter.
A Virginia deputy police sheriff, Daniel Ray Carter, is currently appealing his dismissal which was based on him clicking the like button for one of the officers that was running to be sheriff. This happened to be the rival of the person who eventually won the race, and after the new sheriff discovered his views on Facebook, he was dismissed.
Gut feeling of this dismissal aside, does this man have protected free speech in his activity on Facebook? The law provides that no police officer may be dismissed for political opinions – but a lower court decided that liking something on Facebook doesn’t fall into this category.
This is now on appeal, and Facebook has just filed in support of Carter. They hold that the like button is like a bumper sticker – a low-cost way of expressing your opinion. The final outcome remains to be decided.
This is what’s happening in the States right now, but with Facebook making its way into our local courts, it is likely that a similar line of reasoning may be followed. Based on our court’s previous views on freedom of expression, there is strong support that this will be the case.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have some things I need to go and unlike.
[Source: Gigaom]
