Stanford CIS

Maryland governor settles lawsuit with ACLU over Facebook censorship

on

"The agreement is "good for free speech and for our democracy," said Neil Richards, a professor at Washington University Law School who specializes in First Amendment theory.

Regardless, Richards said, government officials shouldn't pick and choose what can appear in a public forum — opening themselves up to lawsuits over constitutionality.

"When the government opens up a place (whether it's a park, or a meeting space, or a digital forum) for public discussion, they can't exclude (or delete) speakers that they don't like," Richards said in an email. "That's censorship and it's unconstitutional.""