Your Facebook “likes” are protected under the Constitution.
A federal appeals court ruled Wednesday that a Facebook “like” is a form of speech protected by the First Amendment.
The court ruling revived the case, which had been dismissed by a lower court, of a former deputy sheriff in Hamtpon, Va. who said he was improperly fired for “liking” on Facebook the page of a candidate running for county sheriff against his boss.
The court ruled that a Facebook “Like” is the “ “Internet equivalent of displaying a political sign in one’s front yard, which the Supreme Court has held is substantive speech.”